GIFT   OF 
Glass   of    190 


ADVENTURING  IN  CALIFORNIA 


•:A:COhlPR£HENSIVE  VIEW 


Liberty  Cap,  Nevada  and  Vernal  Falls 


ADVENTURING 
IN  CALIFORNIA 

YESTERDAY 
TODAY 

AND 

DAY  BEFORE  YESTERDAY 

BY 
JESSIE  HEATON  PARKINSON 

With  Memoirs  of  Bret  Harte's 
"Tennessee" 


Harr  Wagner  Publishing  Company 

San  Francisco 

California 


Copyrighted 

by 
Jessie  Heaton   Parkinson 

All  Film  Rights 

Reserved 

1921 


DEAR  HOME  FOLKS- 

Friends  to  whom  this  rambling  letter  of 
"YESTERDAY"  was  originally  written,  in  the 
midst  of  Yosemite's  grandeur,  by  the  dusty  road 
side,  and  after  our  return  home ;  other  friends  ivho 
remember  the  joys  and  the  ups  and  downs  of 
camping  with  horse  and  zvagon  in  the  peaceful 
time  between  the  "days  of  gold"  and  the  days  of 
gasoline,  and  friendly  strangers: 

May  these  few  echoes  from  the  past  bring  to 
you  only  pleasant  memories. 

My  "TO-DAY"  is  the  record  of  a  small  part  of 
what  we  found  on  our  second  trip  into  Yosemite. 

Yours  will  be  what  you  and  your  children  may 
find  if  you  read  well  the  story  of 

"DAY  BEFORE  YESTERDAY,"  put  your  car 
in  order,  and  follow  ^vith  seeing  eyes,  the  trail  of 
the  Pioneer  in  California. 


457673 


CONTENTS 

Frontispiece    iv 

Liberty  Cap,  Nevada  and  Vernal  Falls 

Prelude ....  XT 

Yesterday    1 

In  Search  of  Health,  1893 

Today 35 

ipij-ip/p 

And  Now  for  the  Big  Adventure...  .  59 

The  Day  Before  Yesterday 61 

The  Search  for  Gold 
Beginning  1849 

Memoirs  of  the  Partners  of  Bret  Harte's  'Ten 
nessee" -  61 

How   Bret   Harte   Got   the   Foundation  of   his 
Story    -117 

The  Soul  of  Jonathan  Was  Knit  \Yith  the  Soul 
of  David  '. 

Postlude                                                                   -119 
Blank  Paees  of  Notes...  121 


ADVENTURING  IN  CALIFORNIA 


ADVENTURING  IN  CALIFORNIA 

YESTERDAY 

TO-DAY 

and 
DAY  BEFORE  YESTERDAY 

#  #  *  * 

PRELUDE 

"There's  a  country  famed  in  story, 
As  you've  oftentimes  been  told; 
'Tis  a  land  of  mighty  rivers 
Running  over  sands  of  gold ; 
The  abode  of  peace  and  plenty, 
And  with  quietness  'tis  blest; 
But  this  country  that's  so  famous 
Lies  away  off  in  the  west," 

ran  the  words  of  an  old  song  heard  in  -early  child 
hood. 

Marvellous  mental  pictures  accompanied  the  ec 
static  thrill  caused  by  the  sound  of  these  simple 
words,  and  all  became  inseparably  associated  in 
the  child  mind  with  the  magic  name,  ^California," 
the  Wonderland  we  were  soon  to  explore. 


PRELUDE 


The  Song  and  the  Melodeon  Accompanied  us  to  California 

"Where  the  snow-crowned  Golden  Sierras 
Keep  their  watch  o'er  the  valley's  bloom, 
It  is  there  I  would  be  in  our  land  by  the  sea, 
Every. breeze  bearing  rich  perfume. 
It  is  here  Nature  gives  of  her  rarest, 
It  is  Home  Sweet  Home  to  me." 

Between  the  days  of  the  singing  of  these  two 
songs  stretch  long  years  since  we,  descendants  of 
settlers  who  blazed  their  trail  through  the  forest 
to  the  guiding  sound  of  great  Niagara's  voice. 


PRELUDE 


Xill 


Reminiscences.  Pioneer  Home  Near  Niagara  Falls 

came  "out  west"  over  the  first  railroad  constructed 
by  California  Pioneers. 

Wonderful  as  seemed  our  first  adventuring  into 
the  strange  country,  the  thrill  of  adventure  and  the 
joy  of  achievement  are  renewed  and  intensified  by 
the  revelations  of  each  new  journey  along  pioneer 
paths. 

With  what  strange  wisdom  and  accuracy  did 
the  early  builders  of  our  State  find  the  trail  and 
follow  where  Nature's  hand  had  marked  it,  from 
coast  to  heights,  across  broad,  fertile  valleys,  along 
deep  river  canons,  through  narrow  mountain 
passes,  and  up  and  around  the  most  accessible  of 
the  steep  mountain  slopes. 


XIV 


PRELUDE 


First  Welland  Canal  and  Tow-path.    Where  Niagara  s 
Voice  Was,  Heard 

So  bounteously  blessed  by  Nature,  the  children 
of  the  California  pioneer,  with  rare  exception,  have 
waited  for  the  perfecting  of  the  automobile  and  for 
good  roads  before  seeking  an  intimate  acquaint 
ance  with  their  great  inheritance.  They  have 
seemed  content  to  remain  as  blissfully  ignorant  of 
it  as  of  their  debt  to  the  real  civilization  of  the 
"back  east"  which  made  possible  the  achievements 
of  their  fathers ;  but,  like  the  eastern  automobile 
maker,  just  beginning  to  fashion  cars  suited  to  the 
climbing  of  our  mountains,  they  are  waking  up.* 


:(1920)  The  "children"  are  now  wide-awake. 


PRELUDE 


XV 


"Places  So  Near  Home"  in  Calaveras  Hills 

How  often,  after  our  return  from  some  brief, 
delightful  gipsying  in  the  vast  out  of  doors,  has 
some  "native"  exclaimed  at  the  records  of  our  little 
camera,  "Why,  I  had  no  idea  there  were  such 
places  so  near  home!" 

O  you  American  motorist !  Would  you  view  a 
whole  great  country  within  the  boundaries  of  one 
of  its  states?  Then  take  your  trusty  tour  book, 
with  its  maps,  and  instructions  to  "turn  right  at 
covered  bridge,  10-15%  grade  here,  altitude  4000 
ft.,  excellent  meals  and  accommodations  at  hotel, 
also  gasoline  and  oil," — and  hasten  on  your  way 


XVI 


PRELUDE 


if  you  must  watch  the  calendar.     You  will  be  glad 
you  came. 

But  if  you  have  time  to  forget  whether  tomor 
row  be  Wednesday  or  Friday,  take  some  warm 
blankets  and  a  well-filled  "grub-box,"  and  spin 
along  the  pioneer-trail  boulevard  from  the  Bay 
of  St.  Francis,  via  Livermore's  grant,  to  the  great 
Spanish  land  grant  of  Captain  Weber — to  the 
City  of  Stockton,  once  called  the  "Slough  City," 
now  re-named  the  "Gateway  City." 


Stockton  Channel  Looking  Down  Toward  the  River 


PRELUDE 


xvi  r 


Start  from  the  head  of  the  Channel  where,  at 
twenty-three  feet  above  sea  level,  the  tides  rise 
and  fall.  Pass  slowly  up  Miner's  Avenue,  the  broad 
thorofare  once  crowded  with  temporary  camps  of 
men  and  teams  from  the  mines,  then  onward  on 
the  great  State  Highway  thru  orchard,  vineyard 
and  grainfield  to  the  foothills,  where,  greeted  by 
the  quick,  glad  welcome  of  the  meadow-lark — lyric 
rival  of  the  eastern  robin  red-breast, — you  draw 
a  deep,  free  breath,  for  here  you  begin  to  sense  the 
BIGNESS  of  it  all. 

When  you  reach  the  oak  and  digger  pine  country 
drive  slowly.  If  you  hail  from  New  England  you 


Stockton  Channel  as  the  Birdman  Saw  It  In  1921 


XVI 11  PRELUDE 

will  begin  to  feel  at  home,  for  surely  none  but  New 
Englanders  would  have  taken  so  many  rocks  from 
these  vast  acres  and  piled  them  up  into  miles  of 
enclosing  walls  for  their  bands  of  sheep  and  cattle. 
Drive  on,  to  where  the  soil  is  yellow-red,  and  the 
creek  beds  are  filled  with  earth  and  rock  torn  from 
the  hillsides  above  by  the  devastating  hydraulic 
pipe  in  its  search  for  gold. 


1     I 


Mariposa  Li7p  Camp  After  Sunset 

Tarry  awhile  in  the  old  mining  towns ;  and  when 
you  have  seen  and  learned  all  the  interesting  things 
your  brain  can  hold  and  your  note-book  store, 
drive  on  and  up,  till  you  have  found  just  the  right 
camping  place  beneath  the  tall  pines,  firs,  and 
cedars,  up  from  the  river. 


PRELUDE 


XTX 


Up  from  the  River 

After  what  is  left  from  your  supper  has  been 
put  back  into  the  grub-box,  and  the  camp-fire  has 
been  carefully  extinguished  in  accordance  with  the 
rules  posted  by  our  brave,  helpful  Forest  Rangers, 


XX 


PRELUDE 


The  Banks  of  the  Boulder 

unroll  your  blankets  and  lie  down  close  to  mother 
earth,  under  the  comfortable,  protecting  canopy  of 
the  bluest-blue  sky,  and  look  up  to  the  goldest- 
golden  stars  you  have  ever  seen,  as  they  swarm 
out.  Open  your  ears  to  the  music  of  the  river,  as 
it  washes  the  banks  and  boulders  and  to  the  deep, 
mysterious  silences  of  the  night,  until — un-til— 
tin — t-il — the  spell  of  the  Sierras  enfolds  you  and 
you  sleep  the  sleep  of  peace. 


PRELUDE 


XXI 


"A/j;  Country,  'Tis  of  Thee."   Our  "Jenny  L'md"  Who  Trilled 
as  the  Birds  Taught  Her 

In  the  clear,  crisp  air  of  the  morning,  your  soul 
will  sing  the  "Doxology,"  and  "My  Country,  'tis 
of  thee."  You  will  be  eager  to  tell  your  friends 
all  about  it ;  yet  I  think  that  some  of  you  will  under 
stand  a  little  of  the  selfish  gratitude  felt  by  some 
of  us  that  there  are  still  a  few  mountain  places  not 
thoroughly  popularized  by  unseeing  people. 

Other  lands  have  mammoth  trees,  but  Califor- 


XXII 


PRELUDE 


"/  Love  77ip  Rocfe 


PRELUDE 


XXTIT 


and  Rills- 
ma  alone,  the  Sequoia;  others,  high  and  snowy 
mountain  peaks  and  cruel,  awe-inspiring  canons ; 
but  our  Sierras,  having  all  these,  from  flower- 
bedecked  plateaus  to  loftiest  heights,  are  so  vast, 
yet  so  lovable. 

Sublimely  beautiful  in  nature;  rich  in  history 
and  poetic  lore  and  strong  in  its  power  of  achieve 
ment,  is  California. 

Great  writers  have  immortalized  it  in  prose  and 
verse;  but  in  nothing  has  the  every-day  life  and 
history  of  this  part  of  early  California  been  more 


XXIV 


PRELUDE 


perfectly  portrayed  than  in  the  simple,  truthful 
narration  by  one  of  the  two  old  mountaineers  I 
called  "David  and  Jonathan." 

Before  you  read  his  story,  let  me  tell  you  how 
we  made  their  acquaintance: 


A  Few  Places  Not  Yet  Popularized 


PRELUDE 


XXV 


An  Expert  Angler 


ADVENTURE  1 
YESTERDAY 

(1893) 
IN   SEARCH   OF  HEALTH 

On  the  evening  of  the  First  of  July  the  Man 
of  the  house  and  I,  together  with  our  horse  and 
wagon  and  all  the  necessary  equipment  for  a  long 
camping  trip,  boarded  the  San  Joaquin  river  boat 
at  San  Francisco  and  headed  for  Stockton,  en 
route  to  Yosemite  Valley. 

An  important  part  of  said  equipment  was  a  small 
two-wick  coal-oil  stove,  upon  which  we  were  to 
cook  the  germea  mush  prescribed  for  the  Man,  a 
small  oil  can,  and  some  bottles  for  the  "indispen 
sable"  milk  we  were  told  to  buy  from  the  farmers 
along  the  way. 

Our  cooking  arrangements  have  thus  far  proved 
a  success,  though  the  restricted  diet  has  already 
been  agreeably  varied.  The  farmers  have  been 
quite  willing  to  let  us  camp  in  their  yards,  as  we 
hasten  to  explain  that  we  will  build  no  camp  fires. 


2  ADVENTURING    IN    CALIFORNIA 

As  we  drove  off  the  boat  at  the  "Slough  City" 
early  Sunday  morning,  we  gave  a  passing  glance 
to  its  stately  Courthouse  and  its  beautiful,  elm- 
shaded  streets,  then  hurried  on  into  the  country, 
near  Lodi,  where  wre  visited  the  Morse  family  un 
til  Monday  afternoon. 

For  the  benefit  of  any  readers  who  may  con 
template  taking  the  Yosemite  trip  for  the  first  time, 
I  will  give  the  names  of  towns  and  post  offices, 
with  distances  as  nearly  accurate  as  can  be  as 
certained,  considering  that  no  two  persons  seem 


Stately  Courthouse 


YESTERDAY  3 

to  agree  concerning  the  number  of  miles  between 
points. 

Traveling  for  health  and  pleasure,  we  intended 
to  rest  whenever  we  felt  the  need,  so  made  an 
early  camp  in  the  door  -  yard  of  a  kind  farmer 
named  Cole,  in  the  vicinity  of  Linden,  whose  fam 
ily  gave  us  a  welcome  fit  for  invited  guests,  filled 
our  bottles  with  fresh,  creamy  milk  in  the  morn 
ing,  and  sent  us  on  our  way  refreshed  in  mind 
and  body. 

We  rejoined  the  main  road  at  Farmington,  sev 
enteen  miles  east  of  Stockton,  and  early  Tuesday 
evening  pitched  our  tent  (in  reality,  a  covered 
wagon)  in  a  rocky  creek  bed  on  a  large  wheat 
ranch  known  as  "The  Locusts."  Here  we  had  our 
first  setback.  Our  somewhat  bulgy-eyed,  but  other 
wise  fine  looking  horse,  guaranteed  by  the  San 
Francisco  dealer  to  be  perfectly  safe  for  our  pur 
pose,  seemed  locoed.  Picketed  above  the  creek  bed 
where  the  feed  was  good,  he  soon  managed  to  wind 
himself  up  in  the  rope,  kicked  out  wildly,  and  his 
feet  flying  from  under  him,  slid  forcibly  down  the 
steep  bank  upon  the  rocks  beneath. 

I  thought  our  mountain  trip  had  surely  come  to 
an  end,  but  when  he  was  untangled  he  was  found 
to  be  uninjured. 


4  ADVENTURING    IN    CALIFORNIA 

Next  morning,  after  much  balking,  he  broke  into 
a  run,  and  we  had  to  let  him  go  as  he  pleased,  lest 
he  might  not  start  again  if  interfered  with.  Fi 
nally  arriving  at  Knight's  Ferry,  about  six  miles 
distant,  we  slackened  speed,  drove  through  the 
town  to  an  old  stone  flour  mill,  erected  in  1852,* 
then  crossed  the  covered  bridge  over  the  Stanis 
laus  River  to  Buena  Vista. 

About  halfway  up  the  hill  the  horse  stopped 
again.  All  persuasive  eloquence  failing  to  move 
him,  our  handsome  young  "Colonel"  was  taken 
from  the  shafts,  and  a  more  plebeian  animal  hauled 
the  wagon  up  the  hill  to  the  premises  of  the  vil 
lage  blacksmith,  where  we  camped  until  Saturday 
morning,  by  which  time  our  aristocratic  "Colonel" 
was  traded  for  an  older  and  a  wiser  horse.  "Cas- 
sius  Bonaparte,"  we  have  dubbed  the  latter.  Thus 
far,  he  has  proved  a  treasure.  He  is  mountain 
born,  and  knows  how  to  climb  steep  hills.  His  age 
is  seventeen  years,  we  are  told. 

From  the  deserted  Keystone  House,  where  the 
road  forks,  a  misplaced  fingerboard  pointed  us  to 
the  left  fork,  which  really  leads  to  Sonora.  How- 

*(Yesterday)  This  old  mill,  now  supplying  electric  power  for 
many  places,  is  one  to  which  the  ranchers  for  many  miles  down 
the  great  valley  of  the  San  Joaquin  once  brought  their  grain 
to  be  ground  into  flour  and  meal. 


YESTERDAY 


Knight's  Ferry  Mill  and  Bridge 

ever,  one  of  us  has  a  keen  sense  of  direction,  and 
wisely  took  the  right-hand  road. 
*       #       #       #       # 

Chinese  Camp  is  a  nearly  defunct  mining  town 
with  a  post  office,  blacksmith  shop,  a  store,  saloons, 
a  Catholic  church,  a  school,  with  twenty-five  in  at 
tendance,  and  a  few  dwellings.  Several  adobe  and 
stone  buildings,  with  heavy  iron  doors,  remain, 
showing  that  this  was  once  a  prosperous  mining 
town.  An  old  dance  hall  bears  the  date,  "1854." 

At  one  place  we  saw  a  number  of  beehives. 
Bees  ought  to  be  very  profitable  in  the  foothills. 

We  crossed  the  Tuolumne  river  at  Moffitt's  toll 
bridge  and  followed  that  beautiful  mountain  stream 
to  a  point  where  the  road  turned  at  the  mouth  of 


6  ADVENTURING    IN    CALIFORNIA 

Moccasin  creek,  where  we  camped  for  the  night. 

Monday  morning,  a  three-mile  drive  brought  us 
to  the  foot  of  the  much  talked  of  terror  of  the 
road— Priest's  Hill* 

We  had  been  solemnly  assured  that  this  famous 
grade  was  "just  two  miles  long.1'  We  started  up 
the  hill  at  half  past  six  in  the  morning  and  reached 
the  top  at  ten  minutes  past  ten  of  the  same  fore 
noon,  both  of  us  walking  nearly  all  the  way. 
("Walking"  included  driving  from  beside  the  wag 
on  and  putting  the  brake  on  and  off  by  one  of  us, 
and  trudging  through  the  deep  dust  with  rock  in 
hand,  to  aid  in  blocking  the  wheels,  by  the  other.) 
From  foot  to  top  of  this  steady,  winding  up-grade, 
there  is  a  rise  of  1400  feet,  but  O,  what  scenery! 

From  Priest's  Hotel,  we  drove  on  to  Big  Oak 
Flat,  one  mile  distant — a  place  owing  its  name  to 
an  enormous  fallen  oak  tree,  which  lies  with  its 
roots  toward  the  road.  This  is  another  dead  min 
ing  town.  One  man  is  postmaster,  express  agent, 
Justice  of  the  Peace  and  Notary  Public.  His  sign 
failed  to  state  what  other  offices  he  holds. 

In  a  creek  bottom  beside  the  road,  a  Chinaman 
was  washing  the  tailings  from  an  old  mine.  In 

*This  grade  was  built  a  piece  at  a  time,  by  each  Pioneer 
who  had  built  his  home  beside  this  remarkable  grade. 


YESTERDAY  / 

answer  to  our  queries,  he  said  he  made  from  two 
to  three  bits  a  day.  The  mining  fever  seems  to 
attack  all  races. 

To  the  next  post  office,  Groveland,  known  in 
early  days  as  Garrote,  is  two  miles.  A  little  far 
ther  up  the  road,  some  lovely  white  flowers,  un 
like  any  we  had  seen  before,  filled  the  air  with 
fragrance. 

About  two  miles  above  Groveland,  we  came  to 
Second  Garrote,  which  consists  of  a  few  scattered 
houses.  There,  while  resting  in  the  shade  of  some 
oak  trees,  we  were  overtaken  by  an  old  gentleman 
who  was  bringing  in  some  wood  on  a  home-made 
cart  drawn  by  an  old  black  pony.  He  told  us  that 
"right  here"  was  the  best  camping  place  on  the 
road.  Opening  the  gates,  he  led  the  way  into  an 
orchard  of  apple  and  pear  trees,  in  a  peaceful  lit 
tle  valley  encircled  by  hills  covered  with  pines 
and  oaks. 

He  informed  us  that  he  had  formerly  mined 
there.  He  and  his  old  partner  had  lived  there  for 
forty  years.  Several  times  they  had  left  in  dis 
gust,  but  always  drifted  back.  Many  years  ago 
they  planted  the  orchard,  hoping  to  make  their  liv 
ing  from  it  in  old  age,  but,  owing  to  the  great 
distance  from  market,  it  had  never  paid.  They  had 


8  ADVENTURING    IN    CALIFORNIA 

twenty  tons  of  fruit  in  one  year,  and  sold  not  more 
than  three  tons.  They  sold  much  of  that  to  the 
ranchers  by  the  wagon  load,  to  feed  to  stock. 

These  two  lonely  old  gentlemen  (David  and 
Jonathan,  I  call  them)  keep  their  place  as  neat  as 
wax,  and  the  Century,  California!!,  and  other  well- 
known  periodicals  are  on  their  table. 

We  left  the  orchard  camp  on  Tuesday  morning, 
carrying  with  us  a  pretty  garden  bouquet  graci 
ously  presented  by  one  of  the  charming  old  gen 
tlemen. 

Tuesday  noon,  passing  by  Hamilton's  Station* 
we  stopped  for  lunch  at  the  Toll-gate.  The  toll 
charges  are  rather  peculiar.  If  you  have  a  one- 
horse  rig,  you  are  not  charged  toll  for  the  horse, 
but  one  dollar  for  each  person.  For  a  large  team, 
the  charge  is  per  animal, — nine  dollars  for  six- 
horse  team,  twelve  dollars  for  ten-horse  team,  etc. 
Rather  steep. 

From  the  Toll-gate  to  Crocker's,  or  Sequoia,  is 
called  eleven  miles.  We  left  the  first-named  place 
at  2:30  P.  M.  After  passing  a  cabin  known  as 
"Harden's",  where  the  frost  was  beginning  to  fall, 
we  found  no  satisfactory  camping  place,  so  pushed 
on,  up  a  steep  hill,  down  a  few  feet  into  a  canon, 
then  up  and  around  another  mountain,  repeating 


YESTERDAY 

this  until  night  overtook  us.  We  walked  up  almost 
every  hill  and  were  quite  tired  out,  when  suddenly, 
from  the  canon  on  our  right  came  a  long,  shrill 
cry.  For  an  instant,  we  listened.  "JmilP  ^nto  tne 
wagon!"  came  the  command.  "Wild  cat"?  I  quav 
ered.  "It  sounds  like  a  woman  or  a  boy  scream 
ing,"  was  the  reassuring  reply.  (I  really  didn't 
think  he  thought  it  was  what  he  suggested.)  The 
cry  was  repeated,  and  we  jumped  into  the  wagon 
in  the  nick  of  time,  for  our  nearly  exhausted  old 
Cassius  heard  the  second  cry,  and  went  galloping 
through  the  darkness,  over  bridges  and  gullies,  not 
stopping  till  he  had  dashed  through  the  gate  flung 
open  by  someone  who  heard  the  clatter  of  our  rig, 
and  he  slowed  down  before  Crocker's  Hotel.  There 
we  learned  for  a  certainty  that  we  had  heard  the 
never-to-be-forgotten  cry  of  the  California  lion,*  or 
panther,  whose  lair  was  less  than  half  a  mile  away. 

It  was  half  past  eight  when  we  turned  into  camp, 
firmly  resolved  never  again  to  be  found  on  the  road 
after  dark.  As  soon  as  Cassius  had  been  provided 
with  all  the  comforts  a  horse  could  have,  we  tum 
bled  into  the  wagon,  booted  and  clothed  and  coated 


*Lion  killer  Jay  Bruce,  who  has  to  his  credit  the  destruction 
of  100  mountain  lions,  says  that  the  lion  does  not  scream. 
Ours  did. 


10  ADVENTURING    IN    CALIFORNIA 

with  dust,  and  knew  no  more  till  the  morning  sun 
was  high. 

Strange  to  say,  we  awoke  quite  rested,  and  left 
the  beautiful  camp  at  Crocker's  at  half  past  nine. 
For  about  three  miles,  the  road  seemed  compara 
tively  level ;  then  we  commenced  the  ascent  of  what 
is  spoken  of  as  the  seven-mile  hill,  intending  to 
camp  at  Crane's  Flat,  five  miles  up  the  hill. 

Riding  a  few  yards,  then  plodding  along  on  foot, 
on  and  on  we  toiled.  We  noticed  the  pines  becom 
ing  larger  and  larger,  and  about  a  mile  from  the 
Flat  we  saw  our  first  Sequoia.  Next  we  saw  a 
sign,  'To  the  Tunnel,"  and  turning  to  the  left,  we 
drove  through  the  "Dead  Giant."  Its  shortest  di 
ameter  is  twenty  feet.  I  walked  around  it  as  close 
to  the  tree  as  possible,  taking  fifty-six  steps.  It 
must  have  been  a  magnificent  sight  when  living. 

We  reached  Crane's  Flat,  seven  and  a  half  (  ?) 
miles  from  Crocker's,  after  a  journey  of  more  than 
six  hours,  exclusive  of  the  noon  rest. 

The  present  population  of  the  Flat  consists  of 
two  persons, — a  young  Mexican  in  charge  of  the 
stock  range,  and  an  older  man,  a  Pennsylvania 
Dutchman,  whose  chief  business,  so  he  said,  is  to 
keep  the  fences  in  repair.  He  is  also  a  cook,  for 
he  brought  us  a  pan  of  first  rate  hot  biscuits  for 


YESTERDAY  1  1 

our  breakfast.  In  the  evening,  the  two  men  vis 
ited  at  our  camp  fire,  and  many  an  interesting  tale 
of  the  mountains  they  told  us.  Then  they  spoke 
of  their  travels.  The  older  man  had  been  "all  over 
the  United  States."  The  young  man,  an  expert 
on  horseback,  and  who  could  conceive  of  no  real 
traveling  in  any  other  way,  had  once  been  "way 
down  to  Fresno."  "To  Fresno !"  scornfully  snorted 
the  older,  traveled  man. 

We  decided  that  we  needed  to  rest  for  a  day  or 
so  in  this  ideal  spot,  nearly  7000  feet  above  sea 
level.  We  camped  on  the  hillside  overlooking  the 
meadow,  under  a  black  oak  tree  which  measured 
eighteen  feet  in  circumference.  We  scarcely  no 
tice  a  smaller  one, — in  fact,  the  trees  are  all  built 
on  so  stupendous  a  scale  they  soon  cease  to  look 
so  very  large. 

My  husband  and  I  had  dinner  at  the  same  table, 
but  he  ate  his  meal  in  Mariposa  County,  while  I 
dined  in  Tuolumne. 

Thursday  afternoon  four  girls — a  teacher  and 
her  pupils— with  two  pack  horses  to  carry  the  beds 
and  provisions,  passed  on  their  way  home  from 
Yosemite.  They  live  in  the  mountains  near  Coul- 
terville,  and  had  made  the  trip,  fifty-four  miles  each 
way,  on  foot,  besides  walking  to  all  points  of  in- 


12  ADVENTURING    IN    CALIFORNIA 

terest  in  the  Valley, — even  climbing  to  Cloud's 
Rest,  they  told  us. 

Friday  morning  we  left  Crane's  Flat,  and  in  an 
hour  and  a  half  reached  the  Summit,  two  miles 
distant  and  1000  feet  higher.  There  were  rocks 
here  as  high  as  a  house,  and  on  the  sandy  ground, 
tiny,  cushiony,  pink  and  white  flowers. 

Soon  we  commenced  going  down,  down, — the 
road  winding  down  the  mountain  side  like  a  snake 
track,  so  that  from  each  section  of  the  grade  we 
were  on,  we  could  look  straight  down  on  the  sec 
tion  below.  From  this  place  to  the  floor  of  the  Val 
ley  is  called  twelve  miles. 

We  had  been  told  that  at  "O  My!  Point"  the 
Valley  bursts  upon  the  sight  like — well,  no  one 
could  say  just  what,  but  anyway,  it  is  supposed 
to  be  a  startling  sight.  It  didn't  "burst"  upon  us 
at  all.  All  along  the  road  the  scenery  had  been 
growing  more  and  more  wonderful,  and,  when  we 
reached  the  climax,  we  seemed  incapable  of  being 
startled. 

But  how  it  does  grow  upon  one !  Every  mile 
of  the  way  into  camp  (and  there  are  four  heavy 
miles  of  them)  the  walls  of  solid  rock  seem  larger 
and  grander.  (My  store  of  adjectives  is  about 
exhausted.)  There  is  a  rock  before  me  now  called 


YESTERDAY 


13 


Stoneman  House,  Later 
Destroyed  by  Fire 


North  Dome.  Its  top 
must  be  at  least  5000 
feet  higher  than  where 
1  am  sitting,  writing 
to  you.  I  can  scarcely 
look  at  it, —  my  eyes 
ache  so  from  so  much 
looking. 

We  are  camped  on 
the  bank  of  the  Mer 
ced  River,  not  far  from  the  Stoneman  House,  in 

sight  of  the  Royal  Arches. 

*       *       *       *       * 

If  you  come  to  Yosemite,  do  not  bring  a  heavy 
wagon.  If  you  haven't  a  light  covered  wagon, 
bring  some  goods  for  a  tent.  The  dews  are  often 
quite  heavy.  You  needn't  bring  a  great  load  of 
provisions.  Milk  can  be  had,  but  vegetables  are 
harder  to  get. 

A  woman  should  have  a  duster  and  one  warm 
wrap.  Her  dress  should  be  short.  Bloomers  would 
be  much  better.  She  could  take  a  short  skirt  to 
wear  over  them  upon  reaching  the  village. 

Last,  but  important  suggestion.  Come  early 
enough  in  the  season  to  see  the  Falls  in  all  their 
beauty, — not  later  than  the  middle  of  July. 


14  ADVENTURING    IN    CALIFORNIA 

SECOND   LETTER 

I  would  not  presume  to  attempt  to  describe 
Yosemite  Valley.  I  will  say  just  as  little  as  I  can 
about  it. 

The  evening  after  our  arrival  we  had  a  call  from 
Elder  Nesbit  and  wife  and  Mrs.  Cutler,  of  Colusa, 
and  a  large,  happy  party  of  their  friends  from  Irv- 
ington, — near  neighbors  in  Camp  Sunshine.  They 
invited  us  to  attend  a  "Sunrise  Service"  at  Mir 
ror  Lake  on  Sunday  morning,  telling  us  that  the 
sun  would  not  be  up  very  early. 

We  were  on  hand  in  good  time.  We  met  other 
campers,  and  guests  from  the  hotels,  and  together 
watched  the  reflection  of  rocks  and  trees  and  the 
towering  Half  Dome  in  that  flawless  mirror. 

All  other  voices  were  hushed  and  men's  hats 
came  off  as  the  clear,  reverent  tones  of  Elder  Nes 
bit  were  heard,  telling  of  Jesus  and  the  Sea  of 
Gallilee. 

At  eight  o'clock  a  faint,  roseate  light  appeared 
in  the  water  near  a  jutting  knob  of  rock,  growing 
brighter  and  more  golden,  till  the  sun  burst  over 
in  a  blaze  of  glory,  and,  led  by  the  beautiful  voices 
of  Elder  and  Mrs.  Nesbit,  simultaneously  rose  the 
song,  "There  is  sunshine  in  my  soul." 


YESTERDAY  1 5 

An  onlooker  afterward  said  to  me,  "I  have  been 
in  nearly  all  the  great  cathedrals  of  Europe,  but 
I  have  never  been  in  one  where  the  service  im 
pressed  me  as  did  that  simple  one  on  the  shore  of 
that  wonderful  lake.  The  Bible  reading,  the  song, 
the  prayer  that  followed,  and  all  the  surroundings 
were  one  perfect  harmony." 

One  should  see  the  lake  before  and  at  sunrise. 
Half  an  hour  afterward,  although  the  reflection  is 
still  good,  the  mirror  is  dusty  and  shows  many 
flaws,  and  ripples  appear  on  its  surface. 

June  is  considered  the  best  month  in  which  to 
visit  Yosemite  if  people  wish  to  see  the  falls  at 
their  best;  but,  owing  to  the  late  spring,  we  were 
early  enough  to  see  them  before  the  volume  of 
water  had  greatly  decreased.  Yosemite  Fall,  dash 
ing  down  the  mountain  wall  in  three  splendid  leaps ; 
beautiful,  graceful  Bridal  Veil,  swaying  to  right 
and  left  in  the  wind;  Vernal  and  Nevada  Falls  in 
the  Merced  River,  and  the  wildly  magnificent  Cas 
cades,  are  alone  well  worth  going  a  long  distance 

to  see. 

*       *       *       *       * 


16 


ADVENTURING    IN    CALIFORNIA 


Vernal  Falls 


YESTERDAY  17 

There  are  two  hotels,  owned  by  the  government 
and  leased  to  private  parties.  The  Sentinel  is  the 
first  reached  after  entering  the  Valley.  Board  and 
room  can  be  had  for  $3.50  per  day.  The  Stone- 
man  House  is  a  fine,  three-story  building  of  a  mod 
ern  style.  Rates  are  $4  per  day.  Its  register  con 
tains  names  of  arrivals  from  England,  France, 
Switzerland,  Russia,  Holland, — in  fact,  from  al 
most  every  part  of  the  civilized  world.  Uncle 
Sam's  chariot  comes  to  the  hotel  every  day  with 
mail  for  hotel  guest  and  camper.  It  takes  two  and 
a  half  days  for  mail  from  San  Francisco  to  reach 
the  Valley. 

The  great  register  in  the  office  of  the  Custodian 
of  the  Valley,  containing  names  of  visitors  and  re 
marks  added  by  them,  makes  interesting  reading. 
Numerous  parties  have  walked  all  the  way,  some 
driving  pack-horses  or  mules,  some  traveling  with 
out  baggage  and  stopping  at  the  wayside  hotels. 
One  man,  writing  for  his  party,  said:  "Hoofed  it 
from  Stockton,  via  Big  Trees.  No  horses,  mules, 
etc."  To  this,  one  of  his  tired  companions  had 
added,  "but  all  asses." 

In  conspicuous  places  all  over  the  Valley  are 
posted  "Rules  and  Regulations"  bearing  the  signa 
ture  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior.  One  of  these 


18  ADVENTURING    IN    CALIFORNIA 

rules  states  in  very  plain  terms  that  "No  intoxi 
cating  liquors  shall  be  sold  within  the  Park  limits." 
A  few  yards  from  the  Stoneman  House  is  a  build 
ing  displaying  this  sign  in  large  letters:  "Store, 
Bar,  and  Billiards."  On  the  ground  beside  and  at 
the  back  of  this  place  are  hundreds  of  empty  bot 
tles,  all  labeled,  as  far  as  we  observed,  "Sarsapa- 
rilla  and  Iron."  I  do  not  for  a  moment  suppose 
that  intoxicating  liquors  are  sold  in  the  Valley, 
but  the  amount  of  Sarsaparilla  and  Iron  consumed 
seems  excessive. 

Groceries  are,  no  doubt,  rather  dear,  but  we 
have  had  occasion  to  patronize  the  store  only  once. 
A  half  gallon  of  oil  for  our  diminutive  cook-stove 
cost  forty  cents. 

Excellent  home  -  made  bread,  equal  in  size  to 
three  loaves  of  baker's  bread,  can  be  had  for  twen 
ty-five  cents  a  loaf;  also,  the  best  of  meat  at  very 
reasonable  prices.  We  pay  fifteen  cents  a  quart 
for  rich,  creamy  milk — and  the  quart  always  meas 
ures  at  least  three  pints. 

Hay  costs  fifty  dollars  a  ton  and  barley  four 
cents  a  pound. 

We  have  met  many  campers  who  made  the  mis 
take  of  piling  a  four-horse  load  on  a  two-horse 
wagon,  then,  rushing  their  teams  and  their  poor 


YESTERDAY  19 

tired  selves  along  as  fast  as  they  could  go,  from 
daylight  till  dark,  finally  reached  their  destination 
"too  foot-sore  and  disgusted  to  care  about  seeing 
anything" — as  one  told  me.  Some  had  brought 
tables,  rocking  chairs,  washtubs  and  flatirons,  and 
many  changes  of  dress.  One  youth  had  his  base 
ball  and  bat  and  felt  quite  out  of  sorts  because 
"nobody  seemed  to  care  to  play  baseball" — in 
Yosemite ! 


The  lower  end  of  the  Valley  is  a  deep  jungle, 
and,  in  consequence,  all  the  campers  are  to  be 
found  in  the  upper  part  near  the  hotels.  It  is  a 
long,  heavy  pull  through  the  sand  to  the  foot  of 
the  grade  near  the  middle  part,  so  we  camped  there 
at  the  base  of  El  Capitan  (the  great  rock  radiat 
ing  heat  like  a  Titantic  furnace)  the  night  of  our 
departure,  in  order  to  get  an  early  start  and  miss 
incoming  teams  on  the  narrow,  winding  grade. 
By  so  doing,  we  made  Sequoia,  better  known  as 
Crocker's,  the  afternoon  of  the  same  day. 

We  found  many  pleasant  campers  at  Crocker's, 
among  them  a  Judge  Ogden  and  his  interesting 
family,  of  Oakland. 


20 


ADVENTURING    IN    CALIFORNIA 


On  the  way  down  from  Crane's  Flat,  we  again 
drove  through  the  "Dead  Giant,"  then  tying  to 
gether  all  our  picket  and  baling  rope,  each  took 
an  end  and  carried  it  around  the  tree  till  we  met. 
Afterward,  we  measured  the  rope  and  found  that 


A  Blind  Washoe  Centenarian  Resembling  Captain  Lewis 

the  circumference  of  that  old  tree,  denuded  of  its 
bark  and  with  one  side  partly  burned  away,  is 
eighty-three  and  a  half  feet.  One  of  our  friends 
at  Second  Garrote  later  told  us  he  had  taken  the 
first  known  measure  of  that  "stump."  I  regret 


YESTERDAY  21 

that  I  have  forgotten  what  he  said  its  height  was 
at  that  time.  My  husband's  estimate  now  is  sev 
enty-five  feet. 

The  second  night  we  arrived  at  the  apple  orchard 
camp,  and  concluded  to  stay  over  for  a  day  or  so, 
for  a  rest  and  general  "cleanup."  The  owners 
kindly  helped  by  lending  me  their  washtub. 

While  there  we  had  a  call  from  an  old  Indian 
whose  feet  had  never  known  shoes, — Captain  Lew 
is,  once  a  big  chief  in  the  Sierras.  In  a  broken 
jargon  of  Spanish,  Indian  and  English  he  made 
us  understand  that  he  had  been  a  great  man  and 
was  very,  very  old.  He  did  not  know  his  age,  but 
declared  that  he  was  a  man  when  all  the  old  white 
men  in  that  region  were  "pickaninnies/'  Our  hosts 
told  us  that  when  they  came  there  forty  years  be 
fore,  Captain  Lewis  looked  just  about  as  he  does 
now,  but  could  walk  better.  This  once  big  chief, 
his  wife  and  children  gone,  travels  from  place  to 
place,  getting  his  living  by  begging.  He  pathet 
ically  told  us  that  his  good  friends  all  give  him 
food  and  drink,  then  said  "Vamos !"  He  got  some 
tea  and  sugar  from  us,  but  was  much  disappointed 
to  learn  that  we  had  no  "demijohn." 

We  bade  goodbye  to  our  friends  at  Garrote,  with 


22  ADVENTURING    IN    CALIFORNIA 

their  interesting  reminiscences  of  the  Donner 
Party,*  Colonel  Hutchings,  and  other  famous  pio 
neers,  came  down  to  Buena  Vista,  had  a  short 
visit  with  the  good  blacksmith  and  his  family,  then 
took  the  road  on  the  left  bank  of  the  Stanislaus 
river  toward  Oakdale. 

At  the  promising  little  city  of  Modesto,  we 
traded  our  wagon  for  a  more  satisfactory  rig.  It 
had  been  used  as  a  light  hotel  bus,  and  had  two 
convenient  steps  at  the  rear. 

The  manager  of  the  Postal  Telegraph  office 
proved  to  be  my  young  messenger  -  boy  friend, 
Johnny  Fitzgerald,  formerly  of  Colusa,  now  grown 
up  and  as  alert  and  ambitious  as  ever. 

He  told  us  with  pride  that  Modesto  was  well 
supplied  with  pure  drinking  water,  but  that  all  the 
water  needed  for  irrigation  would  soon  be  brought 
from  the  Tuolumne  River,  where  "the  largest  dam 
in  the  world  is  under  process  of  construction." 

We  waited  until  the  sun's  rays  grew  less  melt 
ing,  then  we  headed  toward  the  Coast  Range  Moun 
tains.  For  miles  we  drove  through  vast  grain- 
fields,  with  houses  far  between.  The  grain  looked 


*The  old  gentleman  had  gone  with  Colonel  Hutchings  on  his 
second  trip  into  Yosemite. 


YESTERDAY  23 

fine,  but  what  a  dreary  country  !*  When  each  big 
ranch  has  been  cut  up  into  many  small  farms, 
Modesto  will  have  a  chance  to  grow.  We  drove 
for  six  miles  without  seeing  an  occupied  dwelling. 

We  crossed  the  wide  San  Joaquin  River  for  our 
night's  camp  at  Crow's  Landing,  named  for  a 
southern  pioneer  family  who  settled  there  in  the 
early  '50's.  The  river  mirrored  the  most  wonder 
ful  sunset  of  purple  and  gold. 

A  pleasant  memory  of  a  hot  July  day  was  given 
us  by  a  lonely  housekeeper  on. an  immense  ranch, 
who  invited  us  into  the  coolest  room  in  her  house, 
where  we  remained  for  several  hours.  When  we 
left,  she  gave  us  from  her  scanty  store  of  books 
a  copy  of  Bill  Nye's  "Baled  Hay,"  with  which  to 
while  away  our  spare  moments.  Later  in  the  day 
we  almost  circumnavigated  the  kingdom  ("ranch'' 
doesn't  describe  it)  of  the  Miller  and  Lux  cattle 
range.  We  were  told  that  this  firm  has  seventy - 
eight  miles  of  unbroken  fence  along  the  San 
Joaquin  River,  besides  its  many  possessions  else 
where. 


*On  February  6  of  this  year  (1921)  we  plucked  the  first  but 
tercups  of  the  season,  from  the  roadside,  when  on  a  delightful 
spin  along  the  newly  completed  concrete  highway,  bordered  by 
pretty  homes  set  in  fig  and  orange  orchards,  where  good  old 
Cassius  had  hauled  us  and  our  heavy  rig  thru  deep  and  heavy 
sand. 


24  ADVENTURING    IN    CALIFORNIA 

The  following  day,  having  very  plain  instruc 
tions  as  to  the  road,  we  started  for  San  Luis 
Ranch.  After  a  drive  of  a  few  miles,  we  saw  a 
lone  blacksmith  standing  beside  his  shop  door.  He 
told  us  we  would  have  to  go  back  to  the  road  we 
had  left  (about  three  miles)  as  Mr.  Miller  had 
nailed  up  the  gates  on  the  road  usually  taken.  We 
were  then  to  go  a  short  distance  and  "take  the  first 
right-hand  road."  We  did,  but  it  was  evidently 
not  our  road.  Again  we  went  back,  and  inquired 
of  the  next  man  we  met.  His  answer  was,  "Go 
straight  ahead  till  you  get  to  the  first  right-hand 
road,  then  turn.  You  can't  miss  it.  There  is  no 
other  right-hand  road." 

These  directions  were  repeated  at  intervals  by 
different  persons,  each  emphasizing,  "You  can't 
miss  it." 

The  country  was  covered  with  right-hand  roads 
as  good  as  the  one  we  were  on,  but  we  kept  going 
ahead  till  after  sunset,  when  we  came  to  the  base 
of  a  hill  where  stood  a  small  schoolhouse,  and  we 
had  to  turn  to  the  right,  reaching  San  Luis  Ranch 
after  dark.  (There  were  no  panthers  there.  They 
couldn't  compete  with  the  land  grabber.) 

Next  morning  we  crossed  the  first  hills  of  the 
Coast  Range  at  Pacheco  Pass,  and  after  a  drive 


YESTERDAY 


25 


of  several  miles  found  ourselves  in  a  pleasant  val 
ley  of  which  Hollister  is  the  chief  town. 

The  grain  in  this  section  was  the  finest  we  had 
seen,  and  the  trees  were  heavy  wth  luscious 
peaches,  apricots  and  other  fruits.  Climate  and 
soil  are  good,  yet  everywhere  were  deserted  farms 
and  orchards. 

Hollister  being  on  the  edge  of  the  fog  belt,  we 

bought  some  heavy  unbleached  muslin  and  thread, 

—materials  for  a  curtain  for  the  surrey  top  of  our 


wagon. 


Leaving  the  town,  with  its  neatly  kept,  rather 


San  Juan  Bautista  Mission,  Founded  in  1797 


26  ADVENTURING    IN    CALIFORNIA 

quiet  streets  and  cosy  looking  houses,  for  nine 
miles  we  drove  over  a  road  like  a  race-track  to 
the  tumble  -  down,  very  picturesque  old  Spanish 
town  of  San  Juan.  A  strong,  cold  wind  was  blow 
ing,  and  we  sought  shelter  beneath  the  tiled  roof 
of  the  piazza  of  the  old  adobe  Mission,  San  Juan 
Bautista.  (St.  John  the  Baptist.) 

The  church  proper,  from  a  view  of  the  interior, 
appears  to  be  at  least  one  hundred  and  twenty  feet 
long.  It  is  in  good  repair  and  in  daily  use.  The 
adjoining  wing  measures  three  hundred  and  thirty. 
A  few  of  the  best  preserved  rooms  serve  as  a  dwell 
ing  for  the  parish  Padre.  He  was  absent,  but  we 
obtained  permission  from  his  housekeeper  to  pre 
pare  our  meal  on  the  long  brick-tiled  piazza. 

In  this  -historic  setting,  we  placed  our  little  oil 
stove  in  one  of  the  deep,  sheltered  window  ledges, 
and  cooked  successively,  a  rare,  three-course  feast 
of  potatoes,  tomatoes,  and  a  very  tender  beefsteak. 

Our  night  camp  was  about  thirteen  miles  far 
ther,  in  the  oak-covered  yard  of  a  Danish  family 
named  Madsen.  In  the  morning,  kind  Mrs.  Mad- 
sen  allowed  me  the  use  of  her  sewing  machine  for 
the  stitching  of  the  long  seams  and  hems  on  our 
wagon  curtains.  With  heavy  linen  thread,  I 
worked  some  stout  buttonholes  in  the  top  hem, 


YESTERDAY  27 

buttoned  the  goods  around  the  surrey  roof,  tied  it 
with  tape  at  the  rear,  and  we  had  the  cosiest  little 
tented  wagon  imaginable. 

Three  miles  more  and  we  were  in  Salinas, — next 
to  Modesto  the  liveliest  town  we  had  seen.  This 
is  the  land  of  beans  and  Burbank  potatoes.  Many 
acres  are  covered  with  sugar  beets,  and  this  year's 
wheat  and  barley  crop  cannot  be  surpassed.  One 
business  man  told  us  of  seventy  acres  of  land  that 
yielded  one  hundred  and  fourteen  bushels  of  barley 
to  the  acre. 

The  soil  of  this  region  should  grow  fine  fruit,  yet 
little  or  none  is  grown,  owing  partly  to  the  fact  that 
grain,  potatoes,  etc.,  yield  much  sooner  than  fruit 
trees,  but  chiefly  because  Salinas  has  long  been 
side-tracked  as  far  as  railroad  communication  is 
concerned.  The  people  are  greatly  interested  in  a 
project  to  complete  the  line  from  Salinas  to  con 
nect  with  the  overland  road  near  Santa  Barbara. 

After  facing  a  cold  wind  for  twenty  miles  along 
a  heavy,  sandy  road,  to  the  left  of  the  beautiful, 
world-famed  Hotel  Del  Monte,  we  hastened  through 
the  historic  streets  of  Monterey  to  the  post-office, 
eager  for  news  of  the  wee  laddie  we  had  been 
obliged  to  leave  at  home. 

We  encamped  at  Monterey  among  some  oak  and 


28  ADVENTURING    IN    CALIFORNIA 

pine  trees,  whose  branches  dripped  fog,  but  in  our 
newly-curtained  wagon,  with  the  stove  on  its  floor 
during  supper  getting,  and  the  hay  bed  made  up 
after  the  meal  was  over,  we  were  quite  com 
fortable. 

Next  day  being  Sunday,  we  attended  service  in 
the  new  Congregational  church  at  Pacific  Grove. 
I  cannot  repeat  the  text,  but  I  know  that  the  Pastor 
laid  much  stress  upon  "Hospitality." 

After  the  service,  we  were  recognized  by  a  lady 
from  Lodi,  who  invited  us  to  her  cottage  for  din 
ner.  Her  bread  and  baked  beans  were  delicious— 
especially  so,  as,  in  our  haste  to  get  the  letter  from 
home,  we  had  forgotten  to  buy  any  bread,  and  our 
larder  was  very  scantily  stocked  that  day. 

It  was  a  ivonderful  sermon. 

We  spent  a  week  in  the  Grove  and  vicinity,  en 
joying  the  delightful  seventeen-mile  drive,  the  visit 
to  the  old  Carmel  Mission,  founded  by  Father 
Junipero  Serra  in  1770  and  to  the  San  Carlos  Mis 
sion  in  Monterey,  founded  in  1794, — in  fact,  enjoy 
ing  everything  but  the  weather,  which  we  found  as 
foggy  as  San  Francisco  at  its  foggiest. 

The  monument  erected  in  honor  of  the  good 
Padre  Serra  by  Mrs.  Leland  Stanford,  represent 
ing  him  in  the  act  of  stepping  from  a  row  boat, 


YESTERDAY  29 

Bible  in  hand,  is  a  fine  piece  of  statuary.  It  is  on 
a  high  bluff  overlooking  the  bay  and  but  a  few 
rods  from  the  landing  place  of  that  brave-hearted 
missionary  and  his  little  band. 

The  Chinese  fishermen's  huts  at  New  Monterey 
are  all  inhabited  this  season,  owing  to  the  unprece 
dented  run  of  salmon. 

The  drive  back  through  Salinas  to  Castroville 
(a  small  town  whose  population  is  chiefly  Spanish, 
Portuguese  and  Italian),  thence  through  Moss 
Landing  to  one  of  our  most  pleasant  camps,  occu 
pied  a  good  part  of  the  next  day.  Like  the  Cole 
family  near  Linden,  the  hospitable  family,  the  Gib- 
erson's,  in  whose  yard  we  stayed  for  the  night, 
invited  us  into  their  house  as  honored  guests.  In 
cidentally,  we  learned  that  they  had  formerly  lived 
in  Los  Angeles,  where  their  best  neighbors  had 
been  former  friends  of  mine  in  the  east. 

A  pleasant  drive  of  a  few  miles  over  rolling 
hills,  and  Watsonville  literally  burst  into  view.  A 
perfect  little  gem  it  appeared  in  a  beautiful  setting 
of  green,  orchards  and  gardens  dotting  every  hill 
side. 

Watsonville  ships  large  quantities  of  fruit,  espe 
cially  the  choicest  of  apples,  to  San  Francisco,  and 
many  other  places.  Acres  of  sugar  beets  supply 


30 


ADVENTURING    IN    CALIFORNIA 


the    great    sugar    refinery    established    by    Claus 
Spreckels. 

About  twelve  miles  from  Watsonville  is  Aptos 
Ranch,  the  beautiful  country  home  of  the  sugar 
king.  This  is  in  the  redwoods  of  the  Santa  Cruz 
mountains. 


Natural  Bridge,  Santa  Cruz 

Four  miles' of  easy  driving  brought  us  to  Soquel, 
and  another  four  miles  over  a  well-sprinkled  road 
to  Santa  Cruz,  a  city  on  many  hills.  It  claims  a 
population  of  six  thousand  yet  has  only  one  busi 
ness  street.  Handsome  residences,  a  wealth  of 
beautiful  flowers,  a  fine  beach  and  a  salubrious 


YESTERDAY  3 1 

climate,  tend  to  make  Santa  Cruz  an  ideal  summer 
resort,  yet  many  places  bear  the  sign,  "For  Sale." 

We  camped  for  two  days  at  a  spot  near  the  town 
which  someone  has  named  "Seabright."  It  has 
three  houses,  I  believe,  and  no  stores. 

We  returned  to  Soquel  by  way  of  Camp  Capitola, 
then,  taking  the  San  Jose  road,  went  four  miles 
farther  on  to  Lasell  and  Rudy's  saw-mill.  The  red 
wood  timber  with  which  the  hills  are  thickly  cov 
ered  is  used  for  shingles  and  fruit  boxes. 

We  spent  a  day  in  this  delightful,  health-giving 
climate,  where  it  wras  neither  too  hot  nor  too  cold 
and  the  sun  shone  all  day,  then  found  uphill  work 
for  the  greater  part  of  six  miles  till  Hotel  de  Red 
wood  was  reached.  We  thought,  "What  a  climate 
for  the  sick  to  grow  well !"  and  what  a  fine  view  of 
the  bay  we  shall  have  in  the  morning!"  Alas!  In 
the  night  a  forest  fire,  caused  by  some  careless 
campers,  started  a  few  miles  below  us,  filling  the 
pure  air  with  smoke  and  ashes  and  completely  ob 
scuring  the  anticipated  view. 

Two  miles  more  brought  us  to  the  summit,  which 
we  were  told  has  an  elevation  of  only  sixteen  hun 
dred  feet.  (We  have  been  thinking  of  Sierra  sum 
mits.)  The  drive  down  the  mountain  is  a  delight 
ful  one. 


32  ADVENTURING    IN    CALIFORNIA 

A  picturesque  place  is  Mountain  Spring  Ranch. 
Near  the  road  is  a  novel  fountain.  A  large  red 
wood  stump  is  striped  in  red  and  white  with  stars 
on  the  reservoir  above.  A  big  brown  bear  sits  in 
the  center  of  this,  holding  an  open  umbrella  above 
his  head.  From  the  top  of  the  handle  water  gushes 
forth  and  pours  over  the  umbrella,  keeping  up  a 
constant  drip,  drip  on  poor  old  Bruin's  back.  Large 
gilt  letters,  "N.  S.  G.  W.,"  dedicate  this  unique 
fountain  to  the  Native  Sons  of  the  Golden  West. 

Los  Gatos  (Spanish  for  The  Gates)  is  an  attrac 
tive  little  town.  It  is  prettily  situated  at  the  foot  of 
the  grade  in  a  prosperous  fruit  country. 

It  is  a  pleasant  drive  from  this  place  to  San 
Jose,  over  a  well-graded  road  which  is  watered 
several  times  a  day.  For  nearly  the  entire  dis 
tance  it  is  like  driving  through  one  large  orchard. 
There  are  no  fences. 

San  Jose  is  confidently  expecting  the  removal  of 
the  State  Capitol  from  Sacramento  to  her  own  city. 

On  Mt.  Hamilton,  overlooking  San  Jose,  is  the 
Lick  Observatory,  containing  what  is  said  to  be  the 
largest  telescope  in  the  world. 

From  San  Jose  to  Santa  Clara — in  fact,  through 
out  the  county — not  an  open  saloon  is  to  be  seen 
on  Sunday,  nor  does  anyone  seem  to  be  hanging 


YESTERDAY  33 

around  a  back  entrance.  "Prohibition  does  pro 
hibit"  on  Sunday,  apparently.  Wonder  if  it 
wouldn't  be  worth  trying  the  other  six  days. 

Passing  through  Mountain  View  and  Mayfield, 
we  spent  a  half  hour  in  the  grounds  of  Stanford 
University.  The  Museum  is  nearing  completion. 
Heavy  bronze  doors,  having  on  each  panel  scenes 
from  Egypt,  France,  Italy,  Greece  and  other  coun 
tries,  open  into  a  large  room  with  floor  and  stair 
cases  O,  so  magnificently,  coldly  marble. 

Hastening  past  the  many  beautiful  country  seats 
around  Menlo  Park  and  others  in  San  Mateo 
County,  we  reached  home,  after  an  absence  of 
seven  weeks,  during  which  time  we  had  slept  in 
doors  just  one  night.  We  have  driven  five  hun 
dred  miles  and  have  gained  a  much  better  idea  of 
the  country  than  we  could  have  done  in  six  months 
travel  by  train.  But  the  best  gain  of  all  is  the  gain 
in  health. 

It  may  interest  some  reader  to  know  that  we 
left  home  with  two  gold  twenties  and  a  little  silver ; 
that  we  paid  ten  dollars  in  our  wagon  trade,  and 
reached  home  with  a  little  silver  in  the  purse. 


34 


ADVENTURING    IN    CALIFORNIA 


INTERLUDE   (1913) 

Wait  a  minute,  Dear  People!  Postpone  your 
reading  of  "Day  Before  Yesterday''  for  a  little 
while.  I've  just  received  a  telephone  order  to  make 
ready  for  a  "try-out"  into  Yosemite  this  afternoon, 
and  may  have  something  new  to  tell  you  upon  our 
return. 

A  GIFT 


The  Partners'  Coffee  Mill,  from  Connecticut 

A  LITTLE  LATER   (1913) 
Well,  folks,  here  we  are!     Now  for  our  latest 
experience ! 


4  ADVENTURE  II 
TO-DAY 

(1913-1919) 

On  the  twenty-second  day  of  August,  1913,  the 
United  States  government,  by  its  Secretary  of  the 
Interior,  Franklin  K.  Lane,  formally  opened  Yo- 
semite  Valley  to  automobiles. 

Thursday  afternoon,  August  28,  1913,  we  two 
well  -  seasoned  campers,  with  all  the  necessary 


Chinese  Camp 


36  ADVENTURING    IN    CALIFORNIA 

equipment  for  a  limited  motor  trip,  left  the  city  of 
Stockton  and  headed  for  Yosemite. 

Years  of  close  friendship  with  our  mountain 
roads  and  the  accurate  log  kept  by  the  master  of 
his  car  helped  to  make  our  well  arranged  schedule 
appear  perfect.  Already,  during  the  summer,  two 
week-end  trips  over  Coulterville  roads  had  brought 
us  midway  to  the  Valley,  but  only  the  one  route 
could  satisfy  us. 

Our  plans  were  well  made:  We  would  drive 
thru  the  San  Joaquin  Valley  and  the  warm  foot 
hills  when  the  sun  was  low;  make  a  late  camp 
somewhere  near  Moccasin  Creek;  climp  Priest's 
Hill  during  the  cool  morning  hours,  and  reach 
Garrote,  or  some  other  pleasant,  shady  spot  in 
time  for  the  noon  rest, — and  so  forth. 

We  started.  Spinning  along  the  good  roads  of 
San  Joaquin,  we  were  soon  in  Stanislaus  county, 
when, — shade  of  our  balky,  vindictive  "Colonel!" 
with  a  vengeful  "sis-s-s-s" ! — out  went  a  tire. 

After  the  requisite  rest(  ?)  in  the  August  sun, 
the  journey  was  resumed,  when  soon, — "sis-s-s-s"! 
—and  the  operation  was  repeated.  Another  repe 
tition,  and  another,  until,  at  the  turn  of  the  road 
into  Knight's  Ferry,  the  "total  depravity  of  inani 
mate  objects  was  fully  illustrated.  It  would  have 


TO-DAY 


37 


been  sheer  folly  to  attempt  the  drive  into  Yosemite 
with  but  one  spare  inner  tube,  and  thirty-six  miles 
lay  between  us  and  home;  and  so,  on  a  wearisome 
side  trip  to  Oakdale,  we  limped  on  three  sound 
tires,  and  the  scene  of  the  anticipated  first  night's 
camp  in  the  cool  out  o'doors,  was  shifted  to  the 
warm,  one-windowed  room  of  a  country  hotel. 

Next  morning,  tubes  were  vulcanized  and  extras 
secured,  and  we  crossed  the  river,  and  returned 
to  the  main  road  at  Buena  Vista.  Then  on  we 
sped  over  the  rocky  road  to  a  railroad  crossing  at 


Coulterville 


38  ADVENTURING    IN    CALIFORNIA 

the  Keystone  House,  and  thru  unchanged  Chinese 
Camp,  where,  one  mile  distant,  the  shrill  whistle 
of  a  locomotive  shrieked  a  requiem  to  our  long 
since  departed  "Cassius!" 

Soon  we  were  descending  a  long,  long  grade, 
from  which  the  head  of  a  vast  canon  across  which 
came  the  clatter  of  machinery  from  the  stamp  mills 
of  gold  mines  of  fabulous  wealth. 

On  this  road  of  wonders,  where  every  foot  of 
the  way  had,  thus  far,  seemed  so  familiar,  how  was 
it  that  we  had  failed  to  remember  this  one  con 
spicuous  place  ?  Oh !  these  were  the  mines  of  fa 
mous  old  Jacksonville,  of  the  "days  of  '49, "  re 
vived,  reconstructed,  and  painfully  modern. 


Sharvmut  Mine 


TO-DAY 


39 


Ruins  of  Hostelry  at  Steven  s  Bar 

At  the  foot  of  the  grade,  we  crossed  to  the  other 
side  of  the  gray,  slickens-filled  creek;  passed  thru 
the  old  town,  and  espied  the  few  remaining  timbers 
of  what  had  been  Moffitt's  bridge;  followed  up  the 
bank  of  the  clear,  unpolluted  waters  of  the  Tuol- 
umne  River  to  the  picturesque  adobe  castle  ruins 
of  the  old  hostelry  of  Steven's  Bar,  and  felt  that 
once  again  we  were  truly  in  Story-Book  Land. 

Here,  in  this  ancient  Inn,  had  the  miners  stopped 
on  the  laborious  journeys  to  and  from  the  moun 
tains  and  the  Bay.  Here,  in  its  big  fifty-foot  ball- 


40 


ADVENTURING    IN    CALIFORNIA 


room,  had  they  gathered  from  far  and  near  in  so 
cial  concourse. 

The  Bar,  or  Flat,  is  in  litigation  now.  The  care 
taker,  whose  tent  is  pitched  amid  the  castle  ruins, 
told  us,  in  soft  Southern  accents,  that  he  had  been 
up  "oveh  the  Moccasin  Creek  road  to  Coultehville 
last  week,  and  the  road  was  vehy  good — but  up 
and  down  some."  We  didn't  try  it — just  then- 
hut  crossed  the  large  steel  bridge  where,  in  earlier 


From  Foot  of  Shawmut  Grade 


TO-DAY 


41 


days,  Steven's  Ferry  had  been,  and  stopped  for  the 
noon  lunch  very  near  to  our  one-time  camp  on 
Moccasin  Creek;  drove  up  the  steep,  neglected 
grade  of  Priest's  Hill  to  the  Hotel,  and  on  thru 
Big  Oak  Flat,  once  more  abustling  mining  town. 
We  found  that  every  vestige  of  the  historic  oak 
had  been  destroyed  bv  vandals. 


Priest's  Hotel,  at  Junction  of  Old  and  New  Grades 

Soon  came  Grovelaml,  and  the  first  sight  of  snow 
on  distant  ridges.  And  then,— the  place  where 
beautiful  white  flowers  (the  azaleas)  had  "filled 


42 


ADVENTURING    IN    CALIFORNIA 


Azaleas  in  Bloom  Mid  Shadows 

the  air  with  fragrance," — and  we  needed  no  painted 
sign  on  the  zig-zag  rail  fence  to  tell  us  that  we 
were  nearing  Garrote  and  the  apple  orchard. 

There  was  the  long-neglected  orchard,  its  trees 
filled  with  fresh  young  fruit;  there  stood  the  old 


TO-DAY 


43 


house,  with  its  roomy  fireplace  and  homely  chairs, 
all  fashioned  by  the  honest  hands  of  these  builders 
of  our  state.  But  dear  old  "David  and  Jonathan," 
whom  we  had  come  to  know  so  much  better  now, 
had  long  since  crossed  the  "Great  Divide." 


Home  of  Tennessee  and  His  Partner 

A  lilac,  and  a  few  of  the  New  England  flowers 
of  their  planting  still  bloomed  with  the  wild  flowers 
among  the  tall  weeds. 

Not  long  could  we  tarry,  and  on  and  up  we  went, 
past  Hamilton's  Station,  where  a  modern  bathtub, 
waiting-  beside  a  brand-new  house,  gave  an  air  of 
incongruity  with  the  surrounding  scenery. 

No  time  for  a  chat  with  the  old-time  keeper  of 
the  toll-gate.  Just  beyond  was  the  toll-bridge, 


44 


ADVENTURING    IN    CALIFORNIA 


where  the  tax  of  one  dollar  for  ourselves  and  car 
was  collected. 

In  the  late  afternoon  of  the  second  day,  as  we 


The  Partners'  Living  Room 

traversed  the  road  up  and  around  mountain  after 
mountain,  our  thoughts  reverted  to  good  old  Cas- 
sius,  and  to  the  blind  faith,  or  blissful  ignorance, 
with  which  we  had  undertaken  the  first  arduous 
journey.  Overhead,  the  trees  met  in  well-remem- 


TO-DAY 


45 


Toll-Bridge 


46  ADVENTURING    IN    CALIFORNIA 

bered  graceful  arch,  and  their  dense  shadows 
brought  early  darkness,  but  no  terrifying  cry  was 
heard  "from  the  canon  on  our  right." 

It  was  quite  dark  when  we  entered  the  open  gate 
at  Sequoia,  or  Crocker's.  "Firmly  resolved  never 
again  to  be  found  on  the  road  after  dark"  sang 
sleepily  thru  my  mind  when,  a  little  later,  our  sec 
ond  night's  camp  was  made  beside  a  rippling 
stream,  and  two  tired  people  rested  peacefully  be 
neath  the  friendly  stars. 

In  this  rapid  transit  age,  there  is  scant  time 
given  to  loitering  by  the  way,  and,  our  simple 
breakfast  over,  \ve  were  soon  rolling  along  the  En 
chanted  Road.  We  reached  the  Tuolumne  Grove 
of  Big  Trees, — we  again  read  the  sign,  "To  the 
Tunnel,"  and,  "turning  to  the  left," — a  patient  man 
halted  his  car,  while  the  camera  was  hurried  to  a 
spot  on  the  steep  hillside  and,  at  8:15  A.  M., 
caught  its  first  glimpse  of  our  stanch,  upright  old 
friend,  the  so-called  "Dead  Giant." 

The  tour  book's  advice  ended  with  Crocker's,  a 
distance  of  ninety-five  miles.  From  this  point,  the 
driver  made  his  own  log.  Crane's  Flat,  two  miles 
within  the  boundary  of  the  National  Park,  and  the 
same  ideal  spot  for  a  camp  that  it  was  in  '93,  was 
now  occupied  by  army  tents,  and  almost  before  I. 


TO-DAY 


47 


The  ''Dead  Giant,"  Tuolumne  Grove 


48  ADVENTURING    IN    CALIFORNIA 

had  time  to  spy  out  the  big  oak  up  on  the  hill  to 
the  left,  one  of  Uncle  Sam's  boys  in  khaki  stood 
beside  "our  car  to  make  sure  that  we  read  and 
obeyed  the  forbidding  sign,  "Autos  Take  Right- 
Hand  Road."  We  did. 

Here,  for  the  first  time,  we  found  ourselves  in 
an  unknown  country.  The  matchless  view  from 
"O  MY!  Point," — the  half-scared  thrill  in  gliding 
down  the  serpentine  grade, — were  denied  to  us. 
"Carriages  without  horses"  might  not  yet  enter  the 
Enchanted  Valley  at  the  foot  of  El  Capitan.  That 
restriction  has  been  removed  by  a  recent  order  from 
the  Department  of  the  Interior,  therefore  let  the 
unwritten  report  of  the  ingenuity  and  hard  labor 
called  for  in  overcoming  the  peculiar  construction 
to  progress  on  the  27  per  cent  grade  between 
Crane's  Flat  and  Hazel  Green  be  buried  in — the 
archives  of  the — Department  of  the  Interior.  Just 
one  "remark"  here:  Crocker's  having  been  out  of 
hay, — no,  of  gasoline,  Cassius, — no,  the  car,  went 
up  and  around  the  hardest  turn  on  reverse.  It 
had  gravity  feed,  and  was  short  on  fuel,  but  did 
the  best  it  could,  under  the  circumstances. 

Soon  no  longer  lone  mountain  travelers  were  we, 
but  actors  in  a  vast  moving  picture  rehearsal  in 
which  the  stunts  were  most  strenuous.  Scenes  of 


TO-DAY 


49 


"Yesterday,"  'To-day,"  and  "Day  Before  Yester 
day"  appeared,  blended  and  dissolved  like  the 
"transformations"  of  the  "Movies." 

Mounted  soldiers  came  into  the  picture  as  if  by 
magic,  and  escorted  us  to  the  Merced  Grove  of  Big 
Trees,  where  was  another  camp  of  soldiery  at 
"First  Control." 

We   were  now  under   strict  military   rule,   and, 
having  answered  a  score  or  more  of  questions  to 
the  satisfaction  of  the  Alcalde — chief  inquisitor— 
and   "skidded"   the   wheels   to   show  the   condition 


'First  Control"  in  Merced  Grove 


50  ADVENTURING    IN    CALIFORNIA 

of  the  brakes,  we  were  duly  numbered,  given  our 
passports  (after  paying  the  fee  of  five  dollars), 
and  permitted  to  enter  by  the  only  gate  as  the  tele 
phone  in  the  first  tent  gave  news  of  our  departure 
to  the  officials  at  "Second  Control." 

During  this  brief  halt,  an  automobile  party  "reg 
istering  disgust  and  anger"  retreated  toward  Hazel 
Green,  because  one  of  the  passengers  was  a  little 
pet  dog,  and  "cats,  dogs  and  traps''  were  wisely 
barred  by  rules  intended  for  the  protection  of  the 
few  wild  animals  still  to  be  found  in  the  lower  end 
of  the  Valley. 

Another  automobile  owner,  coming  out  from  the 
Valley,  failed  to  make  the  First  Control  on  schedule 
time,  and,  being  very  warm  and  weary,  tried  to 
coerce  the  sentries  into  opening  the  magic  gate. 
Finding  these  guardians  of  the  place  as  immovable 
as  the  Sequoias,  he  "registered"  so  much  visible 
and  audible  anger  that  the  result  was  notice  of  per 
petual  banishment  from  the  National  Parks, — an 
order  revokable  only  upon  proper  application  to 
the  Department  of  the  Interior.  After  much  par 
ley,  he  was  permitted  to  drive  out.  As  we  made 
our  entrance  thru  the  gateway,  we  heard  an  ex 
ultant  shout:  "Wait  till  we  pass  that  line!!  Then 


TO-DAY  51 

we'll  be  out  of  the  United  States  and  back  in  Cali- 
for — ni-a! !!" 

The  next  scene, — down,  down,  down  steep  and 
winding  grades  of  granite  sand  to  the  undescrib- 
able  Cascades  and  "Second  Control,"  demanded 
steady,  careful  work  on  the  part  of  the  chief  actor, 
who  had  little  opportunity  for  enjoying  the  glorious 
panorama. 

At  last  we  were  on  the  floor  of  the  Valley.  El 
Capitan  looked  kindly  down  upon  us  as  we  hastened 
to  the  first  garage  set  up  in  Yosemite, — a  modern 
automobile  shop,  with  Upper  Yosemite  Fall  in  the 
rear  and  about  three  thousand  feet  above. 

Time  for  one  of  the  Valley's  artists  to  photo 
graph  us  in  our  car,  with  Bridal  Veil  Fall  for  a 
background,  could  not  even  be  considered,  and 
Permit  37  was  O.  K'cl.  and  surrendered  to  the  offi 
cial  at  "Third  Control,"- -Yosemite  Station,  well 
within  the  scheduled  time.  The  car  was  sent  back 
to  the  garage  for  "parking,"  and  a  horse-drawn 
carryall  finally  gathered  us  up  with  other  pas 
sengers  for  Camp  Curry,  which  proved  to  be  very 
close  to  the  site  of  our  camp  of  "Yesterday.11 

To  our  left,  toward  majestic  North  Dome  above 
the  wonderfully  chiseled  sculpture  of  the  Royal 
Arches.  Far,  far  below  gleamed  the  limpid,  em- 


52 


ADVENTURING    IN    CALIFORNIA 


Upper  Yosemite  Fall 


TO-DAY 


53 


erald-tinted  waters  of  the  Merced  River,  and  on 
its  bank  (so  quickly  shifted  the  kaleidoscopic 
scenes  of  past  and  present)  was — ungainly,  faith 
ful  old  Cassius,  and  the  wagon,  and  the  sack  of 
barley  and  bundle  of  hav  that  served  as  chair  and 

•/  ^ 

writing  desk  for  my  first  letter  from  Yosemite, 
twrenty  years  ago. 

Only  a  scant  hour's  rest  upon  a  comfortable  bed, 


North  Dome  and  Regal  Arches 


54 


ADVENTURING    IN    CALIFORNIA 


Half  Dome  in  Thunder  Storm 


TO-DAY  X") 

—for  the  tent  door  opened  out  toward  Half  Dome, 
in  the  gray  haze  of  a  passing  thunder  storm,  which 
soon  reached  the  Camp.  The  tripod  was  hastily 
set  up  beside  the  dining  hall,  and  the  camera's 
shutter  clicked  in  unison  with  the  six  o'clock  din 
ner  bell. 

After  the  storm,  the  evening  was  spent  out-of- 
doors,  with  pilgrims  from  our  own  and  other  lands, 
while  David  Curry,  Stentor  of  the  Valley,  told  of 


Mirror  Lake 


56  ADVENTURING    IN    CALIFORNIA 

its  origin  and  its  many  wonders.  Glacier  Point, 
illuminated,  rose  high  before  our  eyes ;  and  we 
knew  that,  not  very  far  away  in  the  darkness  still 
lay — Mirror  Lake,  or — Galilee. 

Next  morning  (Sunday)  we  climbed  into  our 
car  at  Yosemite  Station  at  six  o'clock,  drove  thru 
heavy  mud  on  the  Valley's  floor,  made  our  way  up 
the  steep,  sandy  grades  to  surrender  Permit  36  at 
"First  Control,"  returning  via  the  Coulterville  road 
as  far  as  Coulterville. 

At  this  place,  we  relied  upon  the  opinion  given 
by  our  Southern  friend  of  Steven's  Bar,  made  a 
new  turn,  and  descended  the  narrow,  tortuous, 
"up  and  down  some"  Moccasin  Creek  road, — a 
new  trail  to  us,  but  one  oft  traversed  by  the  early 
generation  of  miners.  Great  mounds  of  rock  and 
yellow  earth  bore  testimony  to  the  mining  opera 
tions  of  our  friends  of  Second  Garrote. 

One  more  night's  camp  on  the  plains,  great 
weariness  o'ertaking  us  where,  twenty  years  be 
fore,  our  balky  "Colonel"  had  given  such  proof 
of  his  evil  disposition ;  an  early  drive  into  Stockton, 
and  on  Monday  morning,  September  1,  our  second 
Yosemite  journey — of  254  miles, — exclusive  of  the 
side  trip  into  Oakdale — came  to  an  end. 


TO-DAY 


1914 


57 


Postscript :  The  rough,  rocky  way  from  Knight's 
Ferry  to  Chinese  Camp  is  now,  by  comparison,  a 
boulevard.  A  fine  new  5  per  cent  grade  to  Priest's 
Hotel  winds  around  the  hillside  for  seven  miles  on 
the  opposite  side  of  the  canon,  from  which  the 
passenger  can  see  the  old  road  and  look  down  into 
the  little  green  valleys  below,  upon  Munn's  spring 
house,  the  wayside  shrine  at  Ferretti's,  the  Hughes' 
place,  and  Cavagnaro's, — once  Culbertson's, — rest 


Ferrettis  Pioneer  Home.  Hetch  Hetchy  Road  Above 


58  ADVENTURING    IN    CALIFORNIA 

places  all  well-known  to  old-timers.  Other  new 
roads  are  being  constructed  and  the  hard  places 
made  easier.  Still,  we  are  rather  glad  we  had  to 
work  our  way  up  the  old  Priest  Hill,  and  glad  to 
know  that  motorists,  too,  may  now  enjoy  the  glori 
ous  view  from  i4O  MY!  Point.11 

1919 

Another  Postscript:  At  the  beginning  of  this 
new  era,  the  traveler  by  land  needs  only  to  follow 
the  numerous  signs  along  the  way.  Week-end 
visits  to  Yosemite  are  of  common  occurrence. 
Automobile  stages  from  Stockton  make  daily  trips 
there  during  the  summer  season. 

On  May  27  of  this  year,  a  wonderful  ship  of 
the  air  glided  safely  down  from  its  uncrowded 
path  in  the  blue  sky,  over  the  Delectable  Moun 
tains  and  into  the  Valley  Beautiful. 

FINIS. 


And  now  for  the 
BIG   ADVENTURE 


The  Partners 


DAY  BEFORE  YESTERDAY 

(THE  SEARCH  FOR  GOLD) 

(Beginning   1849) 

Nov.  26,  1901. 

At  the  request  of  a  Dear  Friend,  I  write  a  few 
things  that  have  occurred  by  and  between  J.  A. 
Chaffee  &  J.  P.  Chamberlain  since  the  year  1849. 
On  the  24  of  Jan.  of  that  year,  we  sailed  from  the 
city  of  Boston  in  the  Ship  Capitol,  with  250  pas 
sengers,  Monckton  Proctor,  Capt,  who,  by  the 
way,  was  a  perfect  gentleman,  but  had  the  usual 
growlers  that  have  been  with  most  all  vessels  since 
Noah  entered  the  Ark. 

Nothing  remarkable  occurred  during  a  voyage 
of  176  days  to  San  Francisco,  at  which  place  we 
arrived  July  19. 

We  found  a  very  great  change  from  the  staid 
and  steady  habits  of  our  New  England  home. 
Here  gambling  w^as  the  prevailing  amusement. 
Men  just  returned  from  the  mines  would  bet  their 
last  dollar  on  the  turn  of  a  card.  Suicides  and 
murders  were  of  frequent  occurrence. 


62 


ADVENTURING    IN    CALIFORNIA 


San  Francisco  and  Yerba  Buena  Island  in  1849 

There  were  six  of  us  Worcester  boys  in  com 
pany.  Their  names  were,  Mr.  Patch  and  son,  A. 
E.  Arnold,  E.  A.  Putney,  Chaffee  and  I.  We  had 
a  tent,  and  camped  in  Happy  Valley,  near  where 
the  Palace  Hotel  is  now.  In  the  daytime,  each  one 
struck  out  for  himself.  There  was  plenty  of  work 
and  wages  high.  Common  laborers  had  from  $5  to 
$7  per  day.  Chaffee  was  a  wheelwright,  I  was  a 
carpenter,  and  we  worked  at  carpentering  at  $12 
per  day.  And  were  well  off,  but  didn't  know  it. 

On  the  arrival  of  news  from  the  mines,  great 
mining  news  would  be  posted  and  big  nuggets  ex 
hibited.  And  finally  \ve  got  the  mining  fever,  and 


DAY    BEFORE    YESTERDAY  63 

all  six  of  us  started  for  the  mines,  and  took  passage 
in  a  sloop  that  was  going  to  Stockton;  and,  after 
the  pleasant  occupation  of  righting  mosquitoes  3 
days,  landed  in  the  Slough  City,  as  Stockton  was 
called  at  that  time.  Upon  our  arrival,  we  cast 
about  for  a  good  place  to  camp,  desiring  to  find  out 
the  best  place  to  go. 

It  was  just  at  this  time  an  incident  occurred  that 
was  characteristic  of  the  times.  One  night  after 
supper,  ChafTee  and  I  took  a  stroll  to  the  water 
front,  where  a  prison  brig  was  moored  and  pris 
oners  were  confined  for  murder.  While  standing 
there,  a  man  tapped  me  on  the  shoulder,  asking 
my  name.  I  told  him.  He  said,  "I  want  you/'  lkl 
guess  you  have  made  some  mistake,"  said  I.  "You 
love  law  and  order,''  said  he.  "I  do;  but  what  do 
you  want?"  He  said,  "Follow  me  and  you  will 
find  out."  He  led  and  I  followed  into  the  hold  of 
the  prison  brig,  where  a  criminal  was  being 
guarded.  Placing  a  gun  in  my  hands,  he  told  me 
to  guard  that  man,  &  should  he  attempt  to  escape 
to  shoot  him,  or  should  an  attempt  at  rescue  be 
made,  to  shoot  them. 

I  took  the  gun  and  began  my  march  up  and 
down  the  deck.  Soon  the  prisoner  began  to  get 
uneasy  and  wanted  to  talk.  I  told  him  to  keep 


64  ADVENTURING    IN    CALIFORNIA 

still,  as  I  was  a  guard,  not  a  lawyer.  "You  know 
my  instructions  are  to  shoot,  if  you  attempt  to 
escape,  and  I  shall  surely  do  it." 

He  then  said  he  had  a  favor  to  ask.  He  owned 
up  that  he  was  guilty,  doubly  guilty,  of  the  crime 
charged,  but  he  had  relatives  back  in  the  States 
who  were  respectable  people,  and  he  did  not  want 
them  to  know  the  fate  that  had  overtaken  him  in 
his  criminal  career.  He  then  asked  me  to  see  the 
Judge  and  ask  him  for  three  days'  grace,  which  I 
did,  the  request  being  readily  granted.  Some  curi 
osity  was  excited,  to  account  for  such  a  request, 
and  extra  precautions  were  taken,  in  case  (of)  an 
attempt  to  rescue  him  by  his  friends.  Nothing  of 
the  kind  occurred,  and  on  the  passing  of  the  fourth 
day  he  was  brought  out  and  seated  on  a  rude  cof 
fin  in  a  cart,  and  slowly  driven  to  a  tree  near  by, 
when  a  rope  was  thrown  over  a  limb  and  a  noose 
placed  over  his  head,  when,  with  a  strong  pull  on 
the  rope,  the  cart  was  driven  from  under  him,  and 
his  soul  was  launched  into  eternity. 

This,  to  me,  was  a  new  trial  and  execution,  but 
as  he  was  a  self-confessed  murderer,  1  thought  it 
just,  and  in  accord  with  law  and  evidence.  He 
went  by  the  name  of  Redhead  Davis,  and  told  me 


DAY    BEFORE    YESTERDAY  65 

he  belonged  to  a  gang  of  desperadoes  that  thought 
no  more  of  murder  than  eating  a  meal. 

After  staying  a  week  in  Stockton,  we  concluded 
to  go  to  the  Mokelumne  River.  A  train  of  fifty 
mules  was  going  to  Big  Bar  and  we  shipped  our 
freight  by  them.  Before  leaving  Boston,  we  were 
told  that  we  had  better  take  provisions,  as  they 
might  be  scarce  in  the  mines.  We  took  beef,  pork, 
flour,  and  so  forth,  for  which  we  had  paid  freight 
to  Stockton,  and  from  there  to  the  mines  we  had 
to  pay  25  cents  per  pound  more;  and,  upon  arriv 
ing  at  the  mines,  we  found  we  could  buy  the  best 
of  fresh  beef  for  25  cents  per  pound, — showing  a 
foolish  transaction  of  a  wise  foresight  in  a  money 
less  transaction. 

We  landed  at  Big  Bar  in  three  days  from  Stock 
ton,  and  the  sight  of  at  least  500  men  rocking  cra 
dles  in  a  most  vigorous  manner  was  almost  stag 
gering.  If  the  cradles  contained  babies,  their 
brains  would  surely  have  been  dashed  out.  This 
was  our  first  sight  of  gold  mining  in  this  land  of 
gold.  We  had  shovels,  picks,  and  pans,  but  no 
cradle,  and  to  buy  one  would  cost  $64,  which  was 
beyond  our  pile.  But  we  were  Yankees,  and  set 
our  wits  to  work  out  a  plan  for  a  cradle.  One  of 
our  company  had  been  a  fish  peddler  at  home  and 


66  ADVENTURING    IN    CALIFORNIA 

had  a  chest  3  feet  long-,  18  inches  square,  lined 
with  zinc.  We  cut  the  chest  in  halves,  making- 
two  cradles  in  the  form  of  a  V,  with  a  3-inch  strip 
in  the  bottom,  and  with  the  zinc  punched  with 
holes  for  a  screen,  for  the  gravel  to  pass  off.  We 
could  wash  more  dirt  than  the  other  miners,  and, 
I  suppose,  lost  more  gold;  but  we  saved  $8  per 
day  washing  sand.  We  worked  two  or  three  days 
and  thought  the  pay  too  small. 

And  our  first  Sunday  in  the  mine  was  spent  in 
cleaning  up  camp,  getting  wood,  and  so  on,  for 
cooking. 

The  elder  Mr.  Patch  was  a  man  65  years  old, 
and  we  told  him  if  he  would  cook  he  should  share 
with  us  in  the  gold;  and  he  very  readily  agreed 
to  that.  When  our  camp  duties  were  done,  we 
went  to  the  grocery  store  to  see  the  sights.  Here 
was  a  variety  of  occupations.  The  grocer  was 
busy  selling  goods,  and  the  miners  were  card  play 
ing  for  amusement  and  money,  with  drinks,  when 
they  were  thirsty,  but  I  didn't  see  a  drunken  man 
during  the  day. 

Monday  morning,  Arnold  and  I  went  up  the 
river  about  a  mile  with  a  pick,  pan  and  shovel. 
We  came  to  an  old  Mexican,  washing  dirt  in  a 
wooden  bowl  that  would  hold  more  dirt  than  our 


DAY    BEFORE    YESTERDAY  67 

iron  pan.  At  that  point  in  the  river  was  an  eddy, 
£,  at  short  intervals,  a  big  cave  in  the  bank  would 
occur;  and,  to  show  how  green  I  was,  I  put  a  pan 
under  the  bank  and  broke  off  a  pan  of  dirt  and 
washed  it  rapidly,  &  had  a  piece  of  gold  worth  one 
dollar.  I  was  not  disappointed,  so  I  tried  another 
pan  of  black  loam,  &,  on  washing  the  dirt  away, 
had  a  piece  of  gold  weighing  8  pennyweights,  at 
80  cts.  per  pwt.,  was  worth  $6.40.  The  old  Mexi 
can  was  still  washing  his  pan  of  dirt,  and  Arnold 
and  I  struck  for  camp  too  quick,  &,  upon  showing 
our  find  to  the  boys,  it  didn't  take  long  to  get  our 
two  cradles  and  tools  and  start  for  the  new  dig- 
gins  ;  &  our  afternoon  w^ork  in  black  loam  turned 
out  $32  gold.  This  muck  hole  had  been  worked 
previously,  I  think  by  Capt.  \Yeber, — of  Stockton, 
for  the  roots  had  been  cut  and  the  hole  was  filled 
with  loose  material. 

We  worked  4  days  &  had  $200.  Then  Mr.  Put 
ney  started  out  to  see  what  he  could  find,  and 
found  an  old  river  bed,  high  &  dry  &  rich,  but 
most  of  it  claimed.  He  finally  secured  one  small 
claim  of  8  feet.  At  that  time,  mining  camps  were 
governed  by  an  Alcalde,  and  his  law  was  supreme. 
Any  company  paying  him  $16  could  turn  the  river 
at  any  point  that  was  not  claimed  for  that  pur- 


68  ADVENTURING    IN    CALIFORNIA 

pose,  &  a  company  of  very  wise  men  got  permis 
sion  to  turn  the  river  where  we  &  others  were  at 
work  with  our  little  claims.  There  were  some  6 
or  8  of  these  claims  of  8  ft.  each. 

At  the  same  time,  parties  were  starting  out  by 
moonlight  for  the  forks  of  the  river,  some  10 
miles  above  by  river  &  15  overland,  that  was  sup 
posed  to  be  very  rich.  Arnold  and  I  thought  we 
would  try  &  find  those  parties,  so  we  took  up  our 
cradle,  pick,  shovel  and  blankets.,  15  Ibs.  salt  pork 
from  Boston,  which,  by  the  way,  was  better  than 
any  Calif,  pork  for  frying,  or  (for)  cooking  beans, 
and  started  on  foot  overland.  The  day  was  hot  & 
no  trail,  &  we  didn't  know  which  was  the  right 
ridge  that  would  lead  to  the  forks  of  the  river;  but 
as  good  luck  was  with  us,  we  took  the  right  one 
and  landed  at  sundown  at  a  big  camp  of  our 
former  shipmates,  with  a  man  standing  sentry  with 
a  gun.  We  inquired  the  meaning  of  this.  The 
answer  was,  "Indians,"  and  that  we  must  spend 
the  night  with  them;  but  we  were  not  imbued  with 
much  fear  of  Indians.  We  went  down  the  river 
about  a  *4  of  a  mile,  made  a  fire  and  tea,  &  toasted 
pork  on  a  stick,  which  we  enjoyed  with  the  keenest 
relish;  spread  our  blankets  &  slept  like  logs. 

In  the  morning,  after  our  superb  repast  of  pork 


DAY    BEFORE   YESTERDAY  69 

&  sea-biscuits,  we  went  up  to  see  the  boys.  They 
made  a  big  mistake  in  landing  here.  They  said 
they  only  made  $3  per  day. 

Arnold  and  I  went  down  the  river,  over  the 
roughest  kind  of  going,  with  our  loads,  &  after 
going  what  we  called  4  miles,  we  saw  a  lone  miner, 
and  I  never  was  so  glad  to  see  a  man  before.  He 
proved  to  be  one  of  our  shipmates  from  Nantucket. 
He  had  a  brother  that  had  gone  to  the  Big  Bar  for 
grub,  and  he  soon  came  with  the  necessary  article. 
They  told  us  they  made  an  ounce  a  day — $16. 

There. was  no  laws  &  we  made  laws  to  govern 
that  Bar.  We  called  40  foot  front  a  claim,  &  A- 
&  I  went  to  work,  and  in  the  afternoon  we  cleaned 
up  an  ounce.  We  worked  till  Saturday  noon  and 
our  grub  gave  out,  and  we  started  for  the  Big- 
Bar  for  a  supply,  with  $200  for  our  4  days  work. 
We  were  benighted  on  our  way  &  stayed  at  a  big- 
Mexican  camp  over  night.  They  treated  us  very 
kindly  &  wouldn't  take  a  cent. 

Sunday  morning  we  made  our  own  camp,  found 
the  boys  growling  with  the  prospect  of  being  turned 
out  of  their  diggins.  Monday  morning  we  started 
back  with  pork,  beans,  and  sea  biscuits.  We  found 
our  blankets  &  tools.  As  we  left  there,  about  the 
middle  of  the  week,  we  saw  a  train  of  mules  a  ziiz- 


70  ADVENTURING    IN    CALIFORNIA 

zagging  down  the  hill  on  the  opposite  side  of  a 
river,  &  turned  out  to  be  over  100  men  from 
Oregon. 

They  came  into  camp,  inquired  if  we  had  laws. 
We  refer (r)ed  them  to  a  page  torn  from  a  pass 
book  that  had  our  laws  written  in  pencil,  with  40 
foot  front.  They  liked  the  laws  &  said  they  would 
support  them. 

Arnold  &  I  worked  till  Sat.  noon,  and  as  our 
grub  was  gone  we  quit,  &  thought  we  would  try 
the  overland  route  home.  We  took  our  blankets, 
thinking  we  might  camp.  The  day  was  hot,  and 
the  hill  steep  &  dry  &  almost  destitute  of  trees. 
We  found  a  little  scrub  oak  about  half  way  up. 
The  scrub  was  not  big  enough  to  fully  shade  both 
of  us.  We  threw  our  blankets  down,  mad,  &  then 
ourselves  on  our  blankets.  We  were  so  mad  we 
couldn't  speak.  And  finally,  after  the  bile  was  ex 
hausted,  Arnold  said,  "How  do  you  like  this  min 
ing  business?"  I  told  him  I  had  seen  enough  of  it 
&  was  going  to  make  a  straight  track  to  the  Bay. 
He  said  that  was  his  fix.  Then  we  felt  better  £ 
started  for  our  camp  right  cheerfully  &  arrived 
some  time  in  the  night.  Found  the  boys  stirred 
up  like  a  nest  of  hornets.  They  had  been  driven 
from  their  claim  by  that  thieving  Co.  that  had  a 


DAY   BEFORE   YESTERDAY 


71 


permit  from  the  Alcalde.  Our  boys  &  the  others 
had  excavated  a  hole  8  ft.  wide  &  2  or  3  ft.  deep, 
which  made  a  fine  canal  for  the  river,  when  turned, 
but  they  spent  $1000.  on  their  dam  to  turn  the 
river,  and  the  floods  came  &  tore  their  works  away, 
and  they  never  got  a  cent. 

We  told  the  boys  we  were  going  to  the  Bay,  and 
Chaff ee  &  Putney  said  they  would  go,  too.  Mr. 
Patch  &  son  concluded  to  winter  in  the  mines. 
We  had  worked  26  days  &  had  made  clear  eleven 
dollars  per  day  per  man;  &  Monday  morning  we 
took  a  team  that  was  going  to  Stockton  &  in  two 
days  landed  in  a  town  that  was  bustling.  Plenty 
of  work.  Carpenters  got  $12  per  day.  Buildings 
were  going  up  in  all  directions.  Teams  all  were 
busy. 


Colton  Hall,  Monterey,  First  Capital  of  California 


72  ADVENTURING    IN    CALIFORNIA 

Being  here  informed  that  the  State  had  formed 
a  constitution  at  Monterey,  and  located  the  Capitol 
at  San  Jose,  we  thought  San  Jose  would  be  a  good 
point  for  carpenters.  We  bought  an  old  horse  to 
pack  our  outfit  and  started  overland,  via  Liver- 
more's  pass. 

The  first  night  out  was  passed  at  French  Camp,* 
kept  by  a  man  that  owned  cows,  &  sold  milk  in 
Stockton.  He  told  us  we  would  have  a  25  mile 
desert  to  cross,  with  no  water  fit  to  drink.  So,  in 
the  morning,  after  bidding  our  host  goodbye,  he 
kindly  gave  each  of  us  a  bottle  of  milk,  which  we 
fastened  in  the  pack  saddle.  The  day  was  warm, 
&  after  awhile  we  became  thirsty  &  unfastened  a 
bottle  of  milk  to  quench  our  thirst;  when,  ''presto, 
change!"  The  motion  of  the  horse  &  the  hot  sun 
had  soured  the  milk,  &,  as  we  had  not  learned  to 
drink  sour  milk,  we  foolishly  threw  it  away,  for 
before  night  we  would  have  been  glad  to  have  it  to 
drink. 

On  our  way,  we  were  all  sadly  fooled  by  the 
deceptive  mirage.  We  would  see  cities  in  the  dis 
tance  with  beautiful  lakes  of  water,  &  would  hurry 
up  the  more  to  reach  the  much  desired  water,  but 


*E1  Rancho  del  Campo  de  los  Franceses.     The  ranch  of  the 
Camp  of  the   Frenchmen. 


DAY   BEFORE   YESTERDAY  73 

it  kept  just  so  far  away.  We  finally  met  a  traveller 
that  told  us  we  would  get  no  water  fit  to  drink  till 
we  got  near  Livermore's,  10  or  15  miles  away. 

We  were  in  the  home  of  the  wild  horse,  and  saw 
bands  of  these  wild  mustangs  playing  together; 
but  when  they  saw  us,  they  broke  and  ran,  making 
the  ground  tremble  with  their  clatter. 

Our  old  plug  was  so  very  slow  that  Chaffee  & 
Putney  struck  out  for  Livermore's,  leaving  Arnold. 
I,  &  the  old  horse  to  get  along  the  best  we  could. 
The  day  was  one  of  those  brassy  ones  in  Sept. 
We  had  an  umbrella  in  the  pack  that  we  took  out 
and  hoisted.  It  was  a  great  relief  to  us  &  an 
object  of  curiosity  to  a  band  of  some  ISO  or  200 
little  animals  about  the  size  of  a  goat.  They  ap 
proached  us  cautiously,  till  they  were  quite  close, 
when  a  few  flirts  of  the  umbrella  sent  them  off  too 
quick.  Antelopes. 

At  length  the  sun  left  us  &  darkness  was  ap 
proaching.  We  had  no  idea  which  was  to  go.  I 
was  in  favor  of  camping,  but  Arnold  was  quite  a 
horseman;  said  "we  will  let  the  horse  go  his  way, 
for  very  likely  the  horse  knew  every  step  of  the 
way  between  Stockton  and  San  Jose,"  &  he  was 
right,  for,  soon  after  midnight,  he  landed  us  safely 


74  ADVENTURING    IN    CALIFORNIA 

at  Livermore's,  where  Chaffee  &  Put.  had  been 
some  2  hours. 

We  soon  had  a  little  lunch  &  was  ready  for 
sleep.  Livermore  gave  us  a  bullock's  hide  apiece 
to  sleep  on.  It  being  an  old  Spanish  ranch,  with  fleas 
innumerable,  sleep  was  out  of  the  question,  for 
fleas  were  ravenous  for  Yankee  gore,  &  they  had 
it  to  satiety;  and  when  the  day  began  to  dawn,  we 
arose  &  went  out  to  view  the  country,  which  is 
beautiful. 

This  man  Livermore  was  an  English  sailor  that 
married  a  native  daughter  some  20  years  past,  who 
brought  him  leagues  &  leagues  of  land  &  thousands 
of  cattle  &  horses.  They  used  to  kill  the  cattle  for 
their  hides  and  tallow,  but  now  they  sold  them  for 
beef  at  $16  apiece. 

We  also  had  peaches  and  grapes  by  the  quantity. 
We  had  often  heard  of  the  excellence  of  the  Cal. 
grape,  but  had  no  idea  it  was  such  a  lucious  luxury 
as  it  proved  to  be.  He  gave  us  all  the  peaches  & 
grapes  we  could  eat  for  one  dollar. 

We  lingered  around  this  delightful  place  till 
about  noon,  and  should  have  staid  longer  or 
started  earlier,  for  this  day  we  had  15  miles  to  go; 
and,  with  the  2  mile  gait  of  our  horse,  we  failed 
to  reach  the  old  Mission  of  San  Jose  till  past  mid- 


DAY    BEFORE   YESTERDAY  75 

night.  We  camped  in  the  street  &  took  an  early 
start  for  the  Capitol  of  Cal,  San  Jose.  We  had 
another  15  mile  drive,  &  were  too  late  to  find  a 
camping  place,  &  put  up  at  the  City  Hotel,  with 
meals  $2,  &  spread  our  blankets  on  floor,  $1.50. 
Everything  &  everybody  was  booming;  plenty  of 
work  for  carpenters  at  $12  per  day,  &  we  agreed 
to  work  for  a  man  at  that  price,  but  our  tools  were 
in  the  City.  And  Monday  morning,  Oct.  1,  1849, 
we  start  for  the  City  to  get  our  tools,  and  had  the 
exquisite  pleasure  of  riding  after  wild  horses  that 
were  only  2  weeks  from  their  native  plains. 

The  first  move  in  the  operation  was,  driver  &  all 
hands  aboard;  then  6  horses  were  handled  by  12 
nien,  one  to  hitch  &  one  to  hold.  The  driver  had 
his  lines  all  ready,  &  said,  "Let  them  go!"  &  they 
went  on  a  keen  run  for  10  or  12  miles;  then  a 
relay,  &  so  on,  till  we  reached  the  City. 

We  thought  Stockton  &  San  Jose  were  boom 
towns,  but  they  were  baby  booms  compared  with 
this  rampant,  bustling  city;  &  here  is  where  we 
should  have  staid  instead  of  going  to  San  Jose. 
But  "there  is  a  destiny  that  shapes  our  ends,  rough 
hew  them  how  we  may."  We  had  engaged  to 
work  for  a  man  in  San  Jose,  &  our  word  was  as 
good  as  our  bond.  The  rains  commenced  the  6  of 


76  ADVENTURING    IN    CALIFORNIA 

Oct.  that  year,  &  every  few  days  a  fresh  supply 
from  the  clouds  would  appear,  &  'twasn't  long  be 
fore  the  roads  were  so  bad  it  was  nearly  impos 
sible  to  haul  lumber,  &  carpenters  had  to  stop  work 
for  want  of  material. 

We  thought  it  a  good  idea  to  buy  a  lot  &  build 
a  house  to  sell  or  rent.  We  bought  a  50  vara  lot 
for  $1000  of  James  F.  Reed  &  agreed  to  pay  for 
the  lot  in  work  at  $12  per  day.  We  also  boarded 
with  Reed's  family  for  $12  per  week.  This  Mr. 
Reed  was  one  of  the  Donner  Party,  that,  nearly 
all  of  them,  perished  in  the  mountains  in  the  win 
ter  of  1846.  It  was  heart-rending  to  hear  Mr. 
Reed  tell  of  sufferings  they  endured. 

We  bought  lumber  for  $70  per  1000  feet,  & 
worked  on  our  house  when  we  could  not  get  work 
from  others. 

The  15  of  Dec.  the  Legislature  convened,  with 
nothing  at  all  adequate  for  their  convenience,  & 
still  raining.  The  members  were  in  a  disgruntled 
state  at  the  accommodation  prepared  for  them.  In 
fact,  it  was  rain,  mud,  &  madness  that  prevailed. 
Several  attempts  were  made  to  remove  the  Capitol 
during  the  winter.  Some  wanted  to  remove  back 
to  Monterey.  Some  wanted  it  in  Frisco ;  &  General 
Vallejo  offered  very  liberal  terms  if  they  would 


DAY    BEFORE   YESTERDAY  77 

move  to  Benicia,  &  the  people  of  San  Jose  done 
their  utmost  to  keep  it,  &  for  the  present  it  seemed 
all  right. 

Chaffee  &  I  managed  to  keep  along  just  about 
even  during  the  winter,  &,  in  the  spring  of  '50,  a 
stage  Co.  wanted  a  station  12  miles  from  San  Jose, 
on  the  road  to  Frisco,  &  sent  me  to  the  city  to  buy 
a  house  ready  to  put  together  &  ship  to  Alviso.  I 
bought  a  building  14x30,  \l/2  stories.  Then  the 
question  as  to  shipping  to  a  point  above  Alviso  to 
the  Santa  Clara  Landing.  The  steamer  wouldn't 
take  the  lumber,  &  finally  I  struck  2  men  that 
owned  a  sloop  &  agreed  to  take  the  lumber  to  the 
Santa  Clara  Landing  for  $300.  They  said  they 
knew  all  about  the  way  to  get  there,  &  started.  I 
was  with  them,  of  course,  to  see  that  all  was  deliv 
ered  at  the  proper  place,  but  it  proved  our  navi 
gators  were  at  fault.  One  thing,  they  were  cau 
tious,  &  went  into  every  inlet  on  the  south  side 
of  the  Bay.  They  got  into  one  inlet,  &  the  tide 
left  us  high  &  dry,  &  (we)  had  to  stay  24  hours  to 
get  out ;  but  finally,  after  three  days,  we  made  the 
landing,  which  was  not  rapid  transit,  for  it  was 
only  about  50  miles  from  the  city. 

Then  we  had  a  month's  work  putting  the  house 
up.  The  place  is  now  called  Mountain  View.  Dur- 


78  ADVENTURING    IN    CALIFORNIA 

ing  the  summer  of  '50,  Emigrants  brought  the 
cholera  into  San  Jose,  but  it  was  a  mild  type,  so 
no  deaths  occurred,  that  I  know  of.  Chaffee  had 
it,  &,  in  a  western  phrase,  "It  kept  him  powerful 
weak"  for  a  long  time.  The  man  &  wife  we 
boarded  with  had  (it)  &  both  were  sick  in  one 
bed.  They  had  a  China  cook,  &  I  was  nurse  & 
chambermaid.  After  awhile,  the  man  &  wife  were 
able  to  leave  the  bed,  but  were  tottering  about  in 
a  weak  state  for  some  time.  In  the  fall,  Chaffee 
was  able  to  do  a  little  work,  &  went  to  the  stage 
station  to  recuperate  &  do  work  enough  to  a  little 
more  than  pay  for  his  board. 

The  winter  of  50  &  51,  the  Legislature  got  an 
extra  mad  on,  &  moved  the  whole  business  to 
Vallejo.  The  breath  of  life  had  been  barely  per 
ceptible  for  some  time  in  San  Jose,  but  this  was 
the  bursting  point.  The  Capitol  moved  around  like 
a  restless  dog;  but  finally  settled  in  Sacramento. 
We  now  were  fully  convinced  that  we  made  a  fatal 
mistake  in  locating  here,  &  a  greater  mistake  in 
commencing  a  building  on  such  an  elaborate  scale. 
We  had  spent  most  of  our  means  for  materials  & 
were  now  stranded.  We  nailed  up  the  doors  & 
windows  &  started  for  the  mines,  to  recuperate. 

On  the  24  of  March,  1851,  an  ox  team  was  going 


DAY   BEFORE   YESTERDAY  79 

to  Stockton  that  kindly  agreed  to  take  our  blankets 
&  cooking  things.  There  were  six  of  us  forlorn 
pilgrims,  &  our  purses  were  as  flat  as  if  an  ele 
phant  had  stepped  on  them  with  his  whole  weight. 

During  our  travel  to  Stockton,  an  incident  oc 
curred  that  came  near  being  fatal  to  Caffee.  We 
were  short  of  blankets.  After  crossing  the  San 
Joaquin  river,  we  made  a  field  bed,  &  all  six  of 
us  bundled  in,  Chaffee  on  one  side  &  I  on  the 
other.  In  the  night  he  lost  his  cover  &  thought 
there  should  be  some  where  I  was.  The  ferryman 
had  a  lot  of  dogs,  &  Chaffee  tried  to  be  as  still  as 
possible  &  not  to  waken  either  dog  or  man;  but, 
C.  stepping  on  a  crackling  stick,  the  dogs  set  up  a 
perfect  dog  Babel,  &  we  were  all  awake  &  Chaffee 
was  at  my  head,  which  I  took  to  be  an  Indian 
after  my  scalp.  I  out  (with  a)  6  shooter  &  would 
have  shot  if  he  had  not  told  me  not  to.  I  knew 
his  voice,  &  desisted  from  being  a  murderer,  so, 
after  having  a  good  laugh  all  round,  we  arranged 
the  blankets  &  slept  finely  till  morning. 

When  we  entered  Stockton  it  was  raining,  &  the 
adobe  soil  of  those  days  made  mud  as  sticky  as 
wax.  We  were  looking  for  cheap  quarters,  & 
finally  saw  a  card  on  a  window,  "Room  to  rent, 
25  cts.  per  day."  We  secured  that  room,  spread 


80  ADVENTURING    IN    CALIFORNIA 

our  blankets  on  the  floor,  got  crackers  &  cheese 
for  grub,  &  were  comparatively  comfortable.  The 
next  day  it  cleared  off,  &  we  saw  a  teamster  load 
ing  for  the  mines  &  told  him  we  would  like  for  him 
to  take  our  dunnage  along,  but  we  were  short  of 
cash.  He  said  if  we  would  help  him  with  his 
mules  on  the  road,  it  would  be  all  right. 

The  roads  were  heavy,  but  we  made  Swett's 
Bar,  on  the  Tuolumne  river,  on  the  first  day  of 
April,  1851.  Here  two  of  our  road  partners  left 
us,  with  Swain  &  Gates  for  mining  partners.  We 
take  account  of  cash  on  hand,  &  find  50  cts.  to 
be  the  sum  total.  We  get  grub  &  mining  tools  & 
commence  fixing  a  place  to  roost.  Timber  is  scarce 
for  a  log  cabin,  &  we  dig  in  the  sidehill  till  6  ft, 
deep,  set  up  8  ft.  posts  in  front  &  run  rafters  back, 
cover  with  boughs,  then  a  foot  of  dirt,  build  a  fire 
place  &  chimney,  make  a  field  bed  8  ft.  square,  & 
think  we  have  quite  a  comfortable  dugout. 

Commence  mining,  &  make  $3  a  day,  &  so  keep 
along  till  the  middle  of  April.  Then  it  commenced 
raining,  &  kept  it  up  for  3  days.  Moist  spots  began 
to  appear  in  our  roof,  with  now  and  then  a  little 
mud  dropping,  till  it  came  down  by  the  basket  full 
—then  we  left.  Chaffee  &  I  crawled  into  an  old 
leaky  tent,  but  the  water  was  clean.  Swain  & 


DAY   BEFORE   YESTERDAY  81 

Gates  went  into  the  store.  It  cleared  off  in  the 
night,  &  in  the  morning  we  began  to  repair  dam 
age,  which  took  three  days,  then  began  mining 
with  better  pay  than  before.  It  was  now  $5  per 
day,  &  continued  2  weeks;  then  hot  weather  came 
&  the  river  rose  so  high  we  couldn't  make  much  of 
anything.  Then  the  boys  thought  best  to  try  & 
find  better  pay,  &  left  me  to  take  care  of  the  camp. 

The  second  day,  I  thought  I  would  cook  up 
something  good  for  the  boys  when  they  came  back. 
I  had  cooked  beans  before  but  never  had  tried 
pastry.  Chaffee  had  been  making  biscuits  all  along. 
I  thought  to  have  a  change,  &  make  a  loaf  of 
raised  bread  &  make  at  least  one  apple  pie.  Miners, 
in  those  days,  wanted  beans  21  times  a  week;  so  I 
picked  over  a  mess  of  beans  &  set  cooking.  I  also 
started  some  dried  apples  for  pie  &  sauce,  then 
commenced  mixing  bread  for  daugh  &  pie  crust;  & 
was  so  absorbed  in  this  delicate  task  that  I  forgot 
to  look  at  the  beans.  The  water  boiled  away  & 
they  burned.  I  took  them  from  the  fire  &  attended 
the  dough  I  had  in  hand,  which  consisted  of  flour 
&  water  straight,  &  it  didn't  work  to  suit  me. 

I  moved  it  to  a  warmer  place  to  raise  up  a  little, 
then  commenced  a  new  lot  of  beans.  The  apple 
was  now  cooked,  &  I  cut  off  a  piece  of  bread  dough 


82  ADVENTURING    IN    CALIFORNIA 

for  pie  crust,  rolled  it  out  in  the  proper  shape, 
filled  with  apple  &  set  baking  in  Dutch  oven,  & 
when  I  thought  it  was  cooked,  took  out,  &  it  didn't 
look  bad;  but  my  bread  dough  was  full  of  cracks 
on  top,  &  it  hadn't  raised  a  particle.  I  wet  my 
hands  &  smoothed  the  loaf  over  as  a  mason  would 
smooth  mortar  with  a  trowel,  &  set  it  baking;  &, 
in  a  short  time,  my  conceit  began  to  weaken ;  &  if  I 
had  thrown  it  away  then  I  would  have  saved  some 
of  my  reputation;  but  it  was  my  first  loaf,  &  I  was 
in  hopes  it  would  turn  out  better  than  it  looked. 
The  pie  looked  middling  well,  &  I  thought  it  was 
all  right.  By  &  by  the  boys  came,  hungry,  & 
pitched  into  the  beans,  which  were  all  right.  The 
bread  they  looked  at  with  one  eye,  as  a  blue  jay 
would  look  at  an  acorn;  but  when  it  came  to  pie — 
they  knew  more  about  that  pie  than  I  did.  They 
lifted  the  top  cover  as  they  would  a  pot  lid;  scooped 
out  the  apple  &  returned  the  crust  for  another  filling. 
In  regard  to  the  bread  I  had  made,  I  must  admit 
that,  as  an  article  of  food,  (it)  was  an  entire  fail 
ure.  It  might  have  been  a  good  foundation  for  an 
emery  wheel.  I  gave  it  a  brisk  roll  down  the  hill 
towards  the  river,  &  it  kept  its  perpendicular  as 
long  as  I  could  see  it,  &  if  it  reached  the  river,  it 
must  be  petrified  long  ago. 


DAY   BEFORE   YESTERDAY  83 

After  the  boys  got  through  with  their  sumptuous 
repast  of  beans  &  the  inside  of  a  pie,  they  took 
their  pipes  &  were  in  a  talking  mood.  They  had 
found  splendid  diggins  at  Chinese  Camp,  &  we 
prepared  to  move  as  quick  as  possible.  Swain  took 
what  he  could  on  his  mule.  Chaffee  &  I  took  the 
balance  on  a  wheelbarrow.  The  distance  to  Chinese 
was  only  8  miles  but  the  trail  a  most  villainous 
route,  &  took  about  10  hours  to  make  the  trip;  & 
June  15,  1851,  we  landed  in  Chinese  Camp. 

This  is  a  dry  camp  &  water  scarce  &  a  very 
important  article.  We  pay  $100  for  a  water  privi 
lege  that  now  affords  water  to  wash  400  buckets 
of  dirt.  Sat.  we  hire  a  mule  &  cart  &  wash  300 
buckets,  &  have  $50,  which  is  a  great  improve 
ment  in  our  finances.  Monday,  16,  we  start  bright 
&  early,  with  a  hired  team  at  $3,  haul  one  mile,  & 
wash  400  buckets,  &  have  $80. 

June  18.  The  whole  camp  was  aroused  this 
morning  by  the  news  of  a  man  brutally  murdered 
within  half  mile  of  the  Empire  saloon,  by  Mexi 
cans.  He  was  a  German  named  Charley  Houk,  & 
was  robbed  of  $500  that  was  with  him.  Parties 
started  in  pursuit  of  the  villainous  scoundrels  & 
caught  them  at  Hornitos  &  killed  2;  the  others 
escaped. 


84  ADVENTURING    IN    CALIFORNIA 

Sat.,  June  22,  we  clean  our  gold,  &  find  we  have 
taken,  the  past  week,  30  oz.,  at  $16  to  the  ounce 
is  $480,  &  we  feel  quite  satisfied  &  hope  it  will 
continue. 

The  week  ending  July  29,  weather  hot  &  dries 
the  water  up  fast.  We  have  taken  $425. 

The  week  ending  July  6(  ?).  We  have  not  done 
much  the  past  week,  owing  to  hot  weather,  &  the 
4th.  we  take  account  of  our  gold  dust  &  find  we 
have  cleared  $1008  since  the  15  of  June. 

Chaffee  &  I,  having  some  unfinished  business  in 
San  Jose,  &  thinking  that  short  settlements  make 
long  friends,  he  thinks  best  for  me  to  go  down  & 
settle  up,  &  Monday  I  take  passage  with  Walker, 
the  teamster,  for  Stockton.  We  drove  to  the  blue 
tent  &  stop  for  the  night,  &  while  there,  Swain 
came  up  with  his  mule.  He  thought  he  would  go 
to  San  Jose  &  see  if  we  couldn't  get  a  team,  &  save 
by  having  a  team  of  our  own. 

Got  into  Stockton  at  2  P.  M.  &  took  the  boat  for 
the  City,  &  arrived  on  the  9th.  Fell  in  with  Capt. 
Ham,  an  old  shipmate,  that  owned  &  was  running 
a  schooner  to  Alviso.  He  insisted  on  my  going  up 
with  him.  I  was  easily  persuaded,  &  went.  I  paid 
him  $350  that  we  were  owing  his  brother. 

Arrived  at  Alviso  at  6  A.  M.    I  walked  to  Moun- 


DAY    BEFORE   YESTERDAY  85 

tain  View  &  staid  over  night  with  a  man  that  was 
owing  us  $229.  I  found  him  as  usual,  without 
money,  but  full  of  very  fair  promises.  He  thought 
he  would  have  the  money  in  3  or  4  days.  I  then 
went  to  San  Jose.  Found  nothing  new  except  a 
gallows  that  had  been  recently  erected  for  the  bene 
fit  of  horse  thieves,  murderers,  &c.  On  the  next 
day  was  Friday,  &  quite  a  concourse  of  spectators 
to  witness  the  execution  of  a  Mexican. 

July  14,  I  started  for  the  horse  ranch  to  see 
what  I  could  do  with  my  man.  Found  him  still 
without  money,  but  said  he  had  a  plenty  of  horses 
and  would  give  me  a  bargain.  I  told  him  I  knew 
nothing  about  horses  and  would  depend  on  his 
word.  He  had  a  fine  looking  horse  brought  up 
for  my  inspection.  I  asked  the  price  of  him.  He 
said  he  could  sell  him  in  the  city  for  $225,  but 
would  let  me  have  him  for  $200.  I  liked  the  looks 
of  him.  He  was  kind  and  gentle  and  I  took  him, 
and  changed  the  note  to  $29,  hunted  the  tallest 
fence  I  could  to  mount,  and  without  saddle,  and 
a  rope  for  a  bridle,  started  off,  proud  of  my  bargain. 

After  going  a  short  distance,  I  noticed  he  went 
a  little  lame,  and  kept  getting  worse.  I  supposed 
it  was  nothing  serious,  as  he  didn't  show  any  lame- 


86  ADVENTURING    IN    CALIFORNIA 

ness  when  I  started.  I  dismounted,  and  examined 
his  feet.  I  found  nothing  the  matter  with  them. 
I  couldn't  mount  again  without  a  high  fence,  so 
I  trudged  along  on  foot  into  San  Jose  and  there 
met  loafers  at  every  corner,  asking  me  what  I  was 
doing  with  that  three-legged  horse,  for  he  didn't 
step  on  his  off  fore  foot.  Finally,  a  friend  of  mine 
told  me  the  horse  had  the  sweeny  and  was  incur 
able.  I  was  mad,  and  took  his  halter  off  and  told 
him  to  get,  and  he  went  home  during  the  night, 
and  the  next  day  the  man  came  charging  into 
town  and  told  me  my  horse  came  back.  I  told 
him  he  could  stay  back,  and  I  would  not  have 
him  at  any  rate;  and,  further,  I  would  have  him 
arrested  for  swindling.  He  saw  that  I  was  in  ear 
nest,  and  offered  to  take  him  back  and  give  me  the 
span  he  was  driving  for  $150.  I  told  him  there 
was  only  one  way  to  settle,  and  that  was,  to  give 
me  a  new  note  of  $229,  which  he  did,  with  interest 
at  3  per  cent  a  month. 

In  the  meantime,  Swain  had  bought  a  wagon. 
I  went  to  a  man  I  could  trust  and  bought  a  mule, 
and  (we)  soon  rigged  him  out  with  harness  and 
were  ready  to  start.  This  being  Friday,  there  was 
another  hanging  to  come  off,  and  after  seeing  that 
we  started  with  five  passengers  for  Chinese  Camp. 


DAY    BEFORE   YESTERDAY  87 

On  our  way  to  the  old  Mission,  we  came  to  the 
first  toll  bridge  I  had  seen  in  the  country.  It  was 
a  catchpenny  affair  with  a  little  whiskey  shanty 
on  one  side.  Fifty  cents,  the  price.  We  soon  con 
vinced  him  he  had  met  the  wrong  party.  We  took 
the  mules  out  of  the  wagon,  led  them  across,  then 
pulled  the  wagon  over  and  started  on  our  way  re 
joicing,  and  so  kept  along  till  we  landed  in  Chi 
nese  Camp. 

July  22,  found  Chaffee  and  Gates  well,  but  our 
golden  prospects  not  near  as  good  as  when  we  left. 
The  water  had  failed,  so  we  couldn't  wash  much 
dirt,  and  the  dirt  had  diminished  in  value,  so  we 
couldn't  make  over  $5  per  day;  and,  taking  into 
consideration  that  three  or  four  months  must  pass 
before  we  had  rains  to  raise  the  springs,  we 
thought  best  to  hunt  other  quarters;  and,  after 
prospecting  a  part  of  the  month  of  August  for 
better  digging  here,  we  make  a  start  for  Second 
Garrote,  twenty  miles  southeast  of  Chinese. 

We  pack  our  goods  and  chattels  on  our  two 
mules,  and  pass  through  Jacksonville,  a  very  lively 
camp,  and  up  Moccasin  Creek,  and  up,  up,  up,  to 
Big  Oak  Flat,  named  from  a  big  and  beautiful 
oak  tree  that  grew  there.  We  stepped  around  it 


88  ADVENTURING    IN    CALIFORNIA 

and  made  39  steps   to   13   feet  diameter,   and  as 
perfect  a  tree  as  ever  grew. 

We  pass  along  through  First  Garrote  (from  a 
man  that  was  garroted  here),  and  September  4th, 
1851,  landed  in  what  was  and  is  called  by  the  Eu 
phonious  name  of  Second  Garrote.  It  had  no  rea 
son  to  be  called  by  that  horrid  name,  for  never  a 
man  was  hung  here  in  the  world.  The  Mexicans 
called  it  San  Ignacio.  Winslow  Hubbard  was  here 
at  the  christening,  and  he  tells  us  in  his  reminis 
cences  how  it  was  named.  James  Shoto,  a  St.. 
Louis  French  (man)  again  made  his  appearance; 
wanted  to  know  the  name  of  our  camp.  We  told 
him.  He  said,  "I  call  it  Second  Garrote";  and  it 
is  still  Second  Garrote,  and  no  doubt  will  always 
retain  that  name. 

It  is  a  beautiful  little  basin,  surrounded  by  pine- 
clad  hills.  The  valley,  at  that  time,  was  covered 
with  very  large  oak  trees  that  have  since  fallen  by 
the  woodman's  axe.  There  is  one  standing  on  the 
Yosemite  road,  near  our  home,  that  is  unique  from 
its  ugliness.  They  have  a  sign,  "Hangman's  Tree/' 
nailed  on  ,to  a  limb. 

September  8  and  9,  Monday  and  Tuesday,  fitted 
up  an  old  log  cabin  for  winter.  While  we  were 


DAY   BEFORE   YESTERDAY 


89 


"Hangman's  Tree'  in  1913 

at  work,  a  man  came  along,  asked  us  if  we  wanted 
a  post  office.  We  said  "Yes."  He  said  the  postal 
agent  for  the  Pacific  Coast  was  a  friend  of  his, 
and  if  we  would  give  him  a  petition  with  thirty 
names  we  would  have  an  office  inside  of  thirty 


90  ADVENTURING    IN    CALIFORNIA 

days;  and  sure  enough,  it  was  so.  Garrote  was 
the  name,  and  Micager  Tucker  was  postmaster. 
Oak  Flat  and  Garrote  (first)  had  to  come  here 
for  their  mail.  Oak  Flat  was  very  indignant,  but 
soon  after  had  an  office  of  their  own.  The  office 
was  kept  here  till  the  spring  of  '52.  No  one  here 
would  have  the  office  and  they  moved  the  whole 
business  to  what  is  now  called  Groveland  (First 
Garrote). 

September  10  we  begin  mining,  and  find  it  a 
different  place  altogether  from  Chinese.  There, 
gold  is  generally  diffused  among  the  soil;  here, 
it  is  generally  a  foot  or  so  from  bedrock,  and  in 
some  places  ten  or  twelve  feet  to  throw  away, — 
which  makes  much  work  for  small  pay.  We  have 
worked  four  days  and  have  taken  $12. 

The  week  ending  September  14,  we  have  sunk 
five  holes  the  past  week  that  would  average  six 
feet  square  and  nine  feet  deep,  and  only  one  of 
them  paid  anything,  and  that  only  paid  $40. 

The  boys  begin  to  growl  about  the  diggins. 
There  is  one  thing  that  makes  it  pleasant  to  stay. 
The  Tuolumne  river  is  full  of  big  salmon.  The 
Indians  bring  them  in  and  sell  them  cheap.  I 


DAY    BEFORE   YESTERDAY  91 

have   seen   them   four   feet   long,   that  you   could 
buy  for  one  dollar. 

One  night  our  mules  were  missing.  We  used 
to  feed  them  nights.  They  had  never  failed  to 
come  home  before,  &  the  next  day  we  gathered 
a  big  posse  to  help  hunt  for  them.  An  old  Texas 
Indian  fighter  commanded  the  expedition.  We 
were  prepared  &  expected  to  have  a  fight,  &  I 
must  say,  I  felt  kind  of  creepy  about  it.  I  was 
well  to  the  rear — a  position  I  liked,  because  if  a 
retreat  was  ordered,  I  would  be  well  advanced, 
&  would  march  in  double  quick  time.  It  was  like 
a  funeral  march.  Not  a  word  was  said  above  a 
whisper.  If  I  had  (had)  anything  to  give  away, 
I  would  have  made  my  will.  After  awhile,  we 
saw  two  squaws  gathering  acorns  in  one  of  their 
conical  baskets.  When  they  saw  us  they  ran,  & 
we  knew  we  were  near  their  camp,  which  we  found 
in  a  few  minutes,  &  consisted  of  these  two  squaws 
&  one  very  old  man.  Our  Commander  talked  with 
him.  He  asked  where  the  braves  were.  The  old 
man  said,  "on  the  river,  fishing."  He  asked  them 
about  the  mules.  He  said  the  chiefs  had  ridden 
them  to  the  river,  then  let  them  go. 

Then  our  courage  was  big,  &  we  thought  we 


92  ADVENTURING    IN    CALIFORNIA 

>might  find  the  mules;  &  in  an  hour  or  so  we 
found  them  &  led  them  home;  &  this  ended  my 
first  &  only  Indian  fight. 

The  week  ending  Sept.  21.  We  have  been  pros 
pecting  all  the  week  &  have  found  nothing  that 
we  thought  would  pay. 

The  week  ending  Sept.  28.  We  made  up  our 
minds  we  would  leave  this  place.  We  had  some 
things  to  dispose  of.  I  went  to  an  Italian  that 
had  always  been  friendly.  I  told  him  we  were 
about  to  leave,  &  would  like  to  sell  a  few  things 
we  had.  He  said,  "What  for  you  go?"  I  said, 
"Poor  pay."  "No,  you  no  go.  I  show  you  good 
claim,  pay  $8  per  day;"  &  he  showed' a  ravine 
close  by,  &  we  commenced  panning  &  found,  with 
water,  we  could  make  $8  per  day,  &  commenced 
throwing  out  dirt,  to  wash  when  the  rains  came. 

Oct.  8  Chaffee  found  a  nugget  that  weighed 
7.70.  This  would  pay  for  a  number  of  buckets; 
&  the  next  day  Chaffee  found  another  piece  of  5.90. 

The  week  ending  Oct.  12.  We  have  thrown  out 
dirt  all  the  week,  till  yesterday  we  prospected  an 
other  ravine  that  will  pay  as  well  as  this, — &  no 
water. 

The  week  ending  Oct.  19.     We  are  still  throw- 


DAY    BEFORE   YESTERDAY  93 

ing  out  dirt.  Rec'd  San  Jose  papers  &  a  letter 
from  Sister,  which  is  very  acceptable,  as  I  haven't 
heard  from  home  in  a  long  time. 

The  week  ending  Oct.  26.  We  must  now  try 
to  make  something  to  live  on,  as  our  funds  are 
nearly  gone.  Monday,  Swain  started  for  Stock 
ton  to  ranch  our  mules  &  to  buy  our  winter  stock 
of  provisions.  Gates  &  I  commenced  a  hole  in  a 
new  place.  Tuesday,  we  got  down.  It  being  12 
ft.  deep,  this  has  paid  us  better  than  any  we  have 
dug.  We  took  out  $75  in  a  space  of  10  ft.  square. 
We  then  sank  4  holes  close  by,  but  none  of  them 
paid. 

The  week  ending  Nov.  2.  Swain  came  back 
Monday.  Gates  &  I  have  been  sinking  holes  in 
different  places,  but  none  paid.  Chaffee  has  been 
getting  out  lumber  for  toms. 

The  week  ending  Nov.  9,  Monday.  I  com 
menced  a  hole  in  a  new  place,  on  a  ridge  leading 
from  Slap  Jack  ravine.  It  was  hard  digging.  I 
had  2  ft.  of  cemented  gravel,  nearly 'as  hard  as 
rock.  Tuesday,  Chaffee  took  hold  with  me.'  We 
got  $4  fine,  &  one  piece  of  $2.30;  which  induced 
us  to  think  there  was  more  near  by.  We  extended 
our  hole  10  ft.  in  length,  which  took  till  Saturday 


94  ADVENTURING    IN    CALIFORNIA 

to  get  down.  We  found  one  piece  of  11.50  &  $4 
in  fine  gold.  Swain  &  Gates  have  been  washing 
with  rocker  &  made  $5  apiece.  Sat.  it  commenced 
to  rain,  &  at  night  rained  quite  hard.  High  wind. 

The  week  ending  Nov.  16.  Mon.,  Tues.,  & 
Wedn.  ChafYee  worked  making  toms.  Splitting 
lumber  out  of  logs  is  slow  work.  Swain,  Gates  & 
self  have  been  panning  &  done  very  well. 

The  week  ending  Dec.  7.  The  past  2  weeks 
we  haven't  done  much.  Swain  killed  &  brought 
in  a  deer,  which  was  an  acceptable  change  in  our 
bill  of  fare.  News  came  of  a  man  being  horribly 
chawed  up  by  a  bear.  The  same  bear  killed  an 
Indian  the  same  time. 

The  year  ending  Dec.  31,  1851.  Were  it  not 
for  the  castle  building  &  dazzling  hopes  that  haunt 
the  gold  hunter,  he  would  give  up  in  despair.  For 
2  weeks  we  watched  the  clouds  as  they  passed 
over,  hoping  they  would  let  out  enough  to  wash 
our  dirt;  &  finally  the  spell  was  broken.  23,  it 
rained  in  torrents, — in  fact,  it  rained  so  hard  we 
were  glad  to  keep  the  house. 

24.  It  still  rained,  but  we  couldn't  see  the  pre 
cious  fluid  pass  unheeded  any  longer.  We  started 
2  toms,  &  at  night  had  $40,  which,  with  the  clos- 


DAY   BEFORE   YESTERDAY  95 

ing  days  of  the  month,  we  had  $137.  As  the 
water  had  run  down  so  we  could  only  run  one  torn, 
it  was  thought  best  to  divide  our  force,  &  Thurs 
day,  Jan.  1,  1852,  Chaffee  &  I  commenced  moving 
over  the  hill,  3  miles  distant.  It  was  over  a  rough 
country,  &  no  trail,  &  a  torn  10  ft.  long,  mining 
tools,  grub,  &  so  on,  we  packed  by  hand  &  foot 
power.  We  find  it  a  hard  road  to  travel.  I  pack 
the  loads  we  have  to  pack.  We  put  up  our  'tent 
&  commence  fireplace  &  chimneys. 

Friday,  Jan.  2,  finished  our  camp.  Sat.,  had  a 
hard  day's  work  moving  over.  We  have  made  3 
trips,  equal  to  18  miles. 

The  week  ending  Jan.  11.  The  Fates  are  against 
us.  When  we  came  over  here,  we  expected  to 
have  plenty  of  water,  but  it  hasn't  rained  since  we 
have  been  here,  &  our  partners  at  Garrote  are  no 
better  off;  &  all  we  can  do  now  is  to  watch  & 
wait  for  more  water. 

The  week  ending  Feb.  1,  1852.  It  is  now  4 
weeks  that  we  have  been  camping  here  waiting 
for  water,  just  barely  making  expenses.  For  a 
week  at  a  time  we  see  no  one,  &  we  have  come  to 
the  conclusion  to  go  back  to  Garrote  &  wait  there 
till  we  have  water  to  work  here.  So  we  pack  our 


96  ADVENTURING    IN    CALIFORNIA 

blankets,  &  leave  tools  here,  to  work  when  we 
have  water. 

The  week  ending  Feb.  8.  Swain  found  a  loose 
quartz  rock  about  3  ft.  long,  &  would  average 
about  18  inches  in  the  middle.  It  was  rich  in  gold, 
&  within  10  ft.  of  our  cabin.  We  broke  it  up 
into  pieces  from  the  size  of  a  man's  fist  to  the 
size  of  a  man's  head,  &  it  showed  gold  all  through 
it.  We  were  not  looking  for  quartz  &  was  not 
excited  over  it  at  all.  Gates  &  I  sank  a  shaft  at 
that  point  25  ft.  deep.  We  once  in  a  while  saw  a 
little  gold,  but  not  much.  The  rock  became  tight 
&  hard  picking,  &  we  quit.  At  the  same  time, 
made  with  a  rocker,  $20. 

Swain  was  laid  up  with  a  cut  on  his  knee,  &  at 
this  time,  Dec.  2,  1851,  Dr.  Roberts  is  sinking  a 
double  compartment  shaft,  including  our  old  shaft. 

The  week  ending  Feb.  15,  1852,  all  4  of  ous  have 
been  placer  mining  &  have  made  $30. 

The  week  ending  Feb.  22,  Wm.  Wyat  joined  us 
in  a  claim  on  Second  Gar  rote  creek.  We  had  3 
ft.  of  water  to  bail,  &  I  made  a  pump  to  keep  the 
water  so  we  could  work  the  claim.  We  took  $46. 

The  week  ending  Feb.  29.  We  have  washed  out 
5  ounces ;  an  ounce  apiece,  the  past  week. 


DAY    BEFORE   YESTERDAY  97 

The  week  ending  Mar.  9.  Our  claim  has  pe 
tered  out,  for  we  only  took  5.70.  Wednesday  it 
commenced  raining  &  kept  it  up  till  Saturday,  then 
held  up,  &  Chaffee  &  I  shouldered  our  blankets  & 
cooking  utensils  &  started  for  our  ravine  over  the 
hill.  Chaffee  and  I  took  out  95.75,  &  picked  our 
dirt,  &  Swain  &  Gates  &  an  Indian  washed  dirt 
that  was  thrown  out,  &  had  $140. 

The  week  ending  Mar.  21.  All  4  of  us  have 
taken  $164  &  have  washed  all  the  dirt  we  had 
thrown  up.  Our  partners,  Swain  &  Gates,  take 
their  departure  for  Rattlesnake  creek,  &  Chaffee 
&  I  think  of  leaving  the  mines  &  of  going  to  Jim- 
town  &  start  a  wheelwright  shop;  but  finally 
bought  4  men  out  of  a  claim  on  the  main  creek 
for  $63. 

The  week  ending  April  4.  Weather  inclement. 
We  took  out  during  the  week,  $75;  &  the  week 
ending  April  11,  we  had  $100,  which  is  really 
good.  April  18,  $66.  April  25,  $110.  Wednes 
day,  I  picked  up  a  $40  nugget.  To-day,  we  clean 
our  gold,  &  have  345.50  for  our  first  26  days  work 
on  the  claim  we  bought  for  $63.  The  week  end 
ing  May  2,  we  took  $65. 

May   9.      Spring   is   here   with   all    its    beauty. 


98  ADVENTURING    IN    CALIFORNIA 

Birds  are  happy  &  so  are  we,  for  we  have  taken 
$70  of  bullion. 

The  week  ending  May  23, — $80  is  this  week's 
showing.  ChafTee  was  the  lucky  one  this  time, 
for  he  found  a  beautiful  nugget.  The  week  end 
ing  May  30, — $80  is  the  figure  for  this  week.  The 
week  ending  June  6, — the  water  is  failing  fast. 
There  is  not  enough  now  to  run  a  torn,  &  no  one 
throwing  out  dirt  to  wash  when  we  have  water. 
The  week  ending  July  11, — we  washed  65  buckets 
of  dirt  &  had  $24,  which  is  good  pay. 

July  15.  We  start  for  San  Jose  to  have  a  little 
rest.  We  walk  26  miles  &  stop  at  Irving  House, 
this  side  of  Knight's  Ferry.  16, — take  passage 
with  a  teamster  for  Stockton,  &  at  4  P.  M.  take 
the  steamer  American  Eagle  for  the  City.  18, — 
Sunday,  attend  church  on  the  Plaza  &  in  the 
streets.  July  19.  Came  across  our  old  firiend 
Arnold.  He  is  keeping  a  livery  stable,  &  with 
one  of  his  best  teams,  takes  us  all  over  the  City, 
&  orders  as  good  a  dinner  as  Barnum's  Hotel  can 
afford.  We  enjoy  his  kind  hospitality  very  much. 

July  20. — We  take  the  steamer  Archer  Roy  for 
Alviso,  thence,  by  stage,  (go)  to  San  Jose,  which 
is  still  dull;  &  3  days  lets  us  out  on  visiting  & 


DAY    BEFORE    YESTERDAY  99 

we  go  to  City  by  stage,  thence  by  steamer  Kate 
Kearny  to  Stockton.  She  ran  aground,  &  the 
American  Eagle  was  12  hours  pulling  us  off. 

From  Stockton  we  take  stage  for  Chinese  Camp, 
then  walk  to  Steven's  Bar  &  stop  for  the  night. 
The  next  day  we  finish  our  journey  to  Second 
Garrote,  which  we  find  nearly  deserted.  They 
have  mostly  gone  to  the  rivers,  where  they  can 
get  water  to  work  with.  We  have  been  throwing 
out  dirt,  which  is  disagreeable  business. 

Now  I  will  skip  along  through  the  hot,  dry  sum 
mer,  to  Sept.  19. 

I  have  been  throwing  out  dirt,  Chaffee  has  been 
washing  with  a  cradle  &  washed  out  $82,  which 
is  decidedly  the  best  dirt  we  have  found  in  this 
place.  The  week  ending  Oct.  10.  We  arejhrow- 
ing  out  dirt  &  have  washed  out  $25.  The  week 
ending  Oct.  22, — we  are  still  throwing  out  dirt. 

Yesterday  I  was  agreeably  surprised  to  meet 
Geo.  H.  Pratt,  an  old  acquaintance  from  Worces 
ter,  Mass.  We  sold  him  a  third  interest  in  our 
claims  for  $150.  We  fix  up  our  log  cabin  &  pre 
pare  for  winter.  In  2  or  3  days  after  Pratt  came, 
one  of  his  fellow  passengers  came  along  &  took 
a  vacant  cabin  not  10  ft.  from  ours.  He  com 
plained  of  being  sick.  He  had  some  fever,  & 


100  ADVENTURING    IN    CALIFORNIA 

wanted  I  should  bleed  him,  which  I  tried  to  do; 
&,  at  the  sight  of  blood,  he  fainted  away. 

Our  nearest  Dr.  lived  in  Oak  Flat.  I  went  for 
him,  as  soon  as  I  could  go,  on  foot.  The  Dr. 
wanted  to  know  how  the  man  appeared.  I  told 
him  he  complained  of  pains  all  over  him  &  had  a 
high  fever.  The  Dr.  said  it  might  be  smallpox. 
He  came  to  see  him  &  called  it  smallpox,  &  as  I 
was  in  for  it,  I  might  as  well  tend  him  during  his 
illness. 

It  was  a  mild  case,  but  no  one  caught  the  dis 
ease;  but  our  friend  Pratt  was  very  much  fright 
ened.  Our  neighbors,  &  tramps,  gave  us  a  wide 
berth  during  his  illness,  &  when  it  was  all  over, 
Pratt,  Chaffee  &  I,  commenced  throwing  out  dirt, 
to  wash  when  we  had  water. 

We  picked  our  ground  &  found  pay  enough  for 
expenses;  &  so  we  keep  along  till  Christmas,  & 
24  inches  of  snow  fell  that  day,  &  went  off  with 
a  warm  rain.  And  then  we  had  more  water  than 
we  could  handle;  we  had  to  hire  men  at  $5  per  day. 

The  heavy  rains  setting  in  so  early  rendered  the 
roads  impassable,  &  the  merchants  had  failed  to 
get  in  provisions.  The  consequence  was,  high 
prices  for  goods, — flour  60  cts.  per  pound  &  every 
thing  in  proportion. 


DAY    BEFORE    YESTERDAY  101 

Pratt,  Chaffee  &  one  man  was  washing  dirt  that 
was  thrown  up  in  summer.  Another  man  &  I  was 
washing  dirt  from  the  little  gulch  the  Italian  told 
me  of,  &  it  came  up  to  the  standard.  The  other 
ground  was  spotted,  &  between  the  high  price  of 
labor  &  grub  we  didn't  make  much,  but  kept  along 
till  March;  then  we  discharged  our  men.  We  sup 
posed  there  was  a  lead  of  gold  above  us  that  hadn't 
been  found,  &  our  work  during  the  winter  was  to 
cut  it  off.  We  now  had  it  cut  off,  except  about  SO 
feet,  &  we  dug  3  holes,  12  or  IS  ft.  long  &  3  ft. 
wide,  &  about  7  ft.  deep.  Chaffee's  hole  was  in 
the  middle,  &  he  struck  the  lead. 

We  now  had  200  feet  of  tail  race  to  dig,  7  ft. 
deep.  As  good  luck  would  have  it,  we  had  a  big 
rain,  &  we  commanded  all  the  water  at  the  head 
of  Second  Garrote  Creek  &  commenced  ground- 
sluicing  our  tail  race,  5  ft.  wide.  We  worked 
steady  for  24  hrs.  &  finished  the  race.  We  rested 
2  days,  then  hired  2  Irishmen,  at  $4.50  a  day,  to 
throw  off  5  ft.  of  dirt,  &  the  first  half  day  had  $32. 

The  week  ending  April  10.   We  have  taken  $162. 

The  week  ending  April  17.  Our  lead  is  crooked, 
&  we  have  only  taken  $60. 

The  week  ending  April  24,  have  taken  $348. 

The  week  ending  May  1st,  have  taken  $170. 


102  ADVENTURING    IN    CALIFORNIA 

The  week  ending  May  8,  have  taken  $250.  Pratt 
went  to  Sonora.  On  his  way  back,  bought  2  cows. 
Paid  $150  for  them. 

The  week  ending  May  15,  only  take  $91. 

The  week  ending  May  22,  have  taken  $367. 

The  week  ending  May  29,  have  taken  $218.  I 
found  a  nugget  worth  $72. 

The  week  ending  June  5,  only  have  $33. 

The  week  ending  June  12,  $100. 

The  week  ending  June  19,  $140. 

The  water  has  failed.  We  discharge  our  men  & 
give  up  washing  for  the  season,  &  June  26,  1853, 
Chaffee  &  I  start  for  San  Jose,  to  see  what  the 
prospects  are  in  that  burg.  We  walk  20  miles  & 
stop  at  Shoemakes.(  ?)  We  were  disappointed  in 
getting  a  seat  out  of  3  stages,  &  finally  take  pas 
sage  in  a  team;  go  to  Blue  Cottage  &  stay  over 
night.  28,  take  one  of  the  stages,  &  it  whirled  us 
into  Stockton  in  a  hurry.  At  4  P.  M.,  take  steamer 
American  Eagle  for  the  City. 

July  1,  go  to  San  Jose  via  Alviso.  Found  the 
place  improving;  everybody  busy.  The  week  end 
ing  July  10. — After  a  week's  survey,  we  think  it  a 
good  idea  to  finish  our  house.  The  week  ending 
— July  17, — have  spent  the  past  week  in  getting 
materials  to  finish  the  house.  Wednesdav,  went  to 


DAY    BEFORE   YESTERDAY  103 

the  City;  &  Chaffee  went  to  the  mines  to  prospect 
for  another  gold  mine. 

The  week  ending  July  24. — I  worked  for  J.  F. 
Reed,  5  days,  at  $6  per  day.  San  Jose,  week  end 
ing  Aug.  7,  1853. — I  have  worked  on  the  house  all 
the  week. 

An  awful  tragedy  has  occurred  here  the  past 
week  between  Edward  &  Thomas  Pyle  &  Dunham 
&  Whitlock.  Tom  Pyle  was  instantly  killed,  leav 
ing  a  wife  &  family  to  mourn  his  loss.  Edward 
Pyle  was  seriously  wounded.  Dunham  was 
wounded  in  the  thigh.  Whitlock  escaped  harm. 

The  week  ending  Aug.  14. — I  have  worked  all 
the  week  on  our  house.  Here  I  will  skip  over  to 
Sept.  25.  This  quiet  city  was  confused  last  Mon 
day  morning,  in  consequence  of  a  man  being  mur 
dered  the  night  before.  He  was  a  stranger,  in  the 
employ  of  Mr.  Mar.,  threshing  grain.  The  cause 
of  his  murder  none  can  tell. 

2  other  murders  have  been  committed  near  this 
place.  The  state  of  society  is  getting  as  bad  as  (in) 
the  memorable  days  of  '50  &  '51.  A  committee  of 
Vigilance  have  organized  themselves  &  are  deter 
mined  to  put  a  stop  to  such  high  handed  crime.  I 
worked  for  Cotrill  3  days. 

The  week  ending  Oct.  23.— I  have  worked  all 


104  ADVENTURING    IN    CALIFORNIA 

the  week  hanging  doors.  Woodnutt  finished  plas 
tering,  making  544  yards,  for  which  we  pay  him 
$544.  The  house  is  all  finished,  &  cost  $7500.  A 
man  came  along, — inquired  the  price.  I  told  him 
$6000.  He  offered  $4000.  It  was  no  sale. 

I  have  earned  at  carpentry  up  to  Dec.  5,  $213. 
At  this  date  there  is  not  much  demand  for  car 
penters,  &,  the  12th,  take  the  stage  for  Gilroy, 
which  is  30  miles  south  of  San  Jose.  At  9  P.  M., 
I  arrive  at  J.  B.  Allen's,  &  accept  of  his  hospitality, 
to  stop  with  him  as  long  as  I  like.  I  stayed  one 
day,  &  we  agree  on  the  price  of  some  work  he 
wants  done,  &  I  go  to  San  Jose  for  my  tools,  & 
came  back  the  17,  &  went  to  work  for  Mr.  Allen 
the  20th. 

J.  D.  Davis  &  I  signed  a  contract  to  build  a 
church,  24x30,  14  ft.  studding,  for  $500. 

Jan.  7,  1854. — In  our  agreement,  the  church 
folks  were  to  have  materials  on  the  ground  by  the 
first  of  the  month,  &  at  this  date  there  is  not  a 
stick  in  sight,  &  I  receive  a  letter  from  Chaffee 
stating  that  he  &  Pratt  had  found  something  good, 
&  I  had  better  come  quick  &  share  with  them  the 
pleasure  of  taking  it  out. 

Jan.  10,  I  start  for  Frisco,  &  G.  W.  Warren  goes 
along  to  see  what  he  can  find.  We  land  at  the  City 


DAY   BEFORE   YESTERDAY  105 

Hotel  in  Sonora  the  11,  &  the  12  start  for  Garrote, 
by  way  of  Ward's  Ferry,  on  foot,  &  pack  our 
blankets.  It  commenced  raining,  &  we  became 
water-logged  at  Deer  Flat,  &  stayed  over  night. 
The  13,  start  for  Garrote  No.  2,  drenched  with 
rain.  We  found  Chaflee  &  Pratt  well  &  our  min 
ing  prospects  good.  14. — Warren  &  I  keep  still, 
to  recuperate. 

Jan.  20,  1854.  The  past  week  has  been  stormy, 
&  now  there  is  12  inches  of  snow  on  the  ground  & 
very  cold.  22, — cloudy,  with  prospect  of  another 
storm;  but  we  cannot  stay  in  the  house  longer,  & 
work  a  short  time, — have  $45.  23. — All  three  of 
us  worked  &  had  $67.  We  worked  as  long  as  we 
could  see,  &  Chaffee  wanted  to  try  a  pan  where  I 
was  at  work,  &  had  $36,  &,  in  5  days,  up  to  28th., 
had  $122.25.  The  week  ending  Feb.  5,  1854.— We 
have  taken  out  of  the  claim,  $405,  &  now  she  has 
gone  back  on  us,  &  Pratt,  Chaflee  &  I  dig  in  every 
direction  &  can  find  no  trace  of  the  old  jade. 

Feb.  19.— I  propose  to  Chaffee  to  go  with  me  to 
Gilroy,  &  maybe  the  church  folks  have  got  some 
lumber  on  hand  &  we  will  build  that  church.  We 
sell  all  right,  title,  &  interest  to  G.  R.  Pratt  for 
'$50  &  start  for  the  lower  country,  packing  blan 
kets,  via  Pacheco's  Pass.  We  have  two  reasons 


106  ADVENTURING    IN    CALIFORNIA 

for  taking  this  course  to  San  Jose.  The  princi 
pal  one  is  to  see  the  country. 

In  2  days  we  reach  Hill's  Ferry,  on  the  San 
Joaquin.  Feb.  21. — We  stay  at  the  Ferry,  then 
have  a  chance  to  ride  12  miles  to  Brown  &  Baker's 
ranch.  23. — It  rains  so  hard  we  lay  over  till  the 
23,  then  walk  8  miles  to  Ogden's  ranch  &  inquire 
the  distance  to  Pacheco's  ranch.  They  tell  us  25 
or  30  miles,  &  on  our  way  (we)  come  across  an 
old  grizzly.  We  are  not  anxious  to  make  his  ac 
quaintance;  pass  along,  &  as  he  seems  willing  to 
let  us  alone,  we  most  cordially  reciprocate. 

After  traveling  some  15  miles  from  Ogden's, 
we  reach  the  Pacheco  Creek,  which  at  this  time  is 
running  boldly,  &  have  to  ford  the  creek  4  times; 
&  finally  select  an  island,  to  camp,  build  up  a  rous 
ing  fire,  &  turn  in  as  hungry  as  wolves,  as  we  have 
had  nothing  to  eat  since  morning. 

We  start  bright  &  early  for  Pacheco's  Ranch, 
some  8  miles  distant,  where  we  find  a  lot  of  Greas 
ers  playing  Monte  on  a  bullock's  hide.  We  tell 
them  we  are  hungry  &  want  something  to  eat. 
They  say,  "Poco  tempo." 

One  of  them  starts  to  make  a  fire.  We  wait 
awhile  longer  &  tell  them  to  hurry  up. 

One  of  them  says,  "Poco  tempo." 


DAY    BEFORE    YESTERDAY  107 

After  waiting  2  hours,  we  get  some  Spanish 
slapjacks  thin  as  wafers  &  dry  as  chips,  &  some 
black,  muddy  coffee.  We  then  travel  some  10 
miles  to  J.  B.  Allen's,  Gilroy. 

The  second  reason  for  coming  this  way  was, 
we  didn't  know  but  they  had  lumber  for  the 
church;  but  they  couldn't  raise  the  means,  &  gave 
up  the  church.  We  stay  at  J.  B.  Allen's  all  night, 
&  he  takes  us  to  San  Jose. 

Feb.  25,  at  3  P.  M. — We  now  have  a  house  of 
our  own  &  soon  equip  for  boarding  ourselves.  Get 
a  cook  stove  &  provisions.  From  Garrote  155 
miles  &  on  foot  112  miles. (?)  And  now  we  will 
sing  the  chorus  of  "Stay  at  home,  boys,  stay." 

The  first  news  we  heard  of  was,  that  Akenhead, 
County  Treasurer,  had  decamped  with  $7000 
county  money.  The  next  thing  is,  that  Merrit  & 
Brothers  had  made  a  complete  success  in  boring 
the  first  Artesian  well  in  this  county.  They  went 
down  80  ft.  &  struck  a  stream  of  flowing  water 
that  would  make  a  miner  smile,  if  he  could  con 
trol  it  in  the  dry  diggins. 

This  is  the  commencement  of  a  new  era  in  the 
Santa  Clara  valley,  &  Meyers,  Sheppard  &  Yontz 
have  bored  2  others,  &  either  of  them  is  4  times  as 
strong  as  Merrit  &  Brothers. 


108  ADVENTURING    IN    CALIFORNIA 

The  week  ending  March  5,  1854.— Chaff ee  &  I 
have  been  resting  after  our  jaunt  from  the  mines 
on  foot  &  in  the  floods  of  Pacheco  Creek.  We 
have  leased  our  house  to  Dr.  G.  B.  Crane,  at  $40 
per  month  in  advance. 

The  week  ending  March  12,  1854.  We  have 
worked  all  the  week,  fixing  up  about  the  house.  A 
most  brutal  murder  in  this  vicinity.  An  American 
lady  was  most  inhumanly  butchered,  while  her  hus 
band  was  in  town.  Her  throat  was  cut  from  ear 
to  ear.  The  party  committing  this  brutal  act  is 
unknown. 

April  2. — We  have  been  painting  house.  Fri 
day,  took  a  ride  with  Dr.  Crane  to  Gilroy.  Tues 
day,  the  murderer  of  Mrs.  Mills  was  brought  into 
town  by  a  Greaser  that  had  shot  him  for  insulting 
his  wife.  It  was  thought  the  deceased  was  the 
actual  murderer  of  Mrs.  Mills,  &  on  these  grounds, 
the  Greaser  was  acquitted. 

May  21.- — We  have  worked  69  days  apiece  for 
Jake  Pyle,  at  $6  per  day,  $414. 

We  have  received  intelligence  the  past  week  of 
the  declaration  of  war  between  Russia  &  Turkey, 
France  &  England. 

June  14. — We  commenced  work  for  Morgan 
Schroeder,  doing  the  woodwork  of  a  house  48x29, 


DAY    BEFORE   YESTERDAY  109 

2  stories,  with  a  porch  all  round,  by  the  day,  at  $6 
per  day. 

The  week  ending  July  9. — We  have  worked  5 
days  each.  The  glorious  Fourth  we  spent  with  the 
crowd,  &  (it)  has  passed  off  very  well. 

July  16. — Hot  weather  has  prevailed,  the  mer 
cury  running  from  90°  to  104°  in  (the)  shade.  De 
structive  fires  have  occurred  in  Frisco,  Sacramento, 
&  Columbia. 

July  25. — Yester  morn,  on  our  way  to  work,  we 
saw  a  man  hung  by  the  neck  to  the  limb  of  a  tree. 
Supposed  to  be  the  work  of  Vigilantes. 

Aug.  6. — Another  brutal  murder  has  been  com 
mitted.  A  Spanish  woman  &  2  children  were  the 
victims.  As  present,  no  trace  of  the  criminals. 

Mercury  going  up  106°  &  108°. 

Received  of  Morgan  Schroeder  $500,  which  we 
let  Julian  Hanks  have  for  a  year,  interest  3  per  cent 
per  month. 

Sept.  17. — Artesian  wells  seem  to  be  all  the  rage. 
Cotrell  succeeded  in  getting  one  of  the  finest 
streams  in  the  county  by  boring  64  ft. 

Oct.  15. — Finished  work  for  Shroeder,  &  our 
wages  amount  to  $1042. 

Another  murder.  A  woman  &  3  children  were 
killed  at  the  crossing  of  the  Salinas  river. 


110  ADVENTURING    IN    CALIFORNIA 

During  the  past  summer,  we  have  been  collect 
ing  materials  for  a  first-class  mining  fever,  &  at 
this  date,  Nov.  19,  was  the  culminating  point  &  we 
start  for  the  mines  again.  If  we  knew  when  we 
were  well  off  we  would  stay  here,  but  we  must 
learn  it  all  over  again.  The  20,  we  start  for 
Frisco  on  the  old  land  route;  &  4  P.  M.  take  the 
Walhanet(  ?)  for  Sacramento.  22, — take  the  stage 
for  Sonora,  via  Mokelumne  Hill,  &  arrive  about 
sundown.  23, — Take  stage,  pass  through  San  An 
dreas,  Curson  (must  be  "Burson"),  Rob(inson's) 
Ferry,  Soldier's  Gulch,  Shaw's  Flat,  &  arrive  in 
Sonora  at  half  past  4,  &  stop  at  City  Hotel. 

25, — We  start  for  Garrote  No.  2,  &  arrive  at 
4  P.  M. 

Dec.  5,  1854,— This  camp  is  plum(b)  full  of 
men  waiting  for  water.  In  coming  from  Sonora, 
we  left  our  blankets  at  Kincaid's  Flat,  &  Monday 
I  went  with  a  donkey  to  get  them.  We  board  with 
Harry  Kraft,  &  prospect  around  for  3  weeks. 
Where  we  wish  to  work  is  claimed  by  other  parties, 
&  we  move  to  Moccasin  Creek  with  our  blankets, 
about  one  mile  above  Culbertson's.  We  get  some 
cloth  to  fix  up  a  kind  of  tent;  have  a  fireplace  & 
chimney;  get  some  lumber  from  Oak  Flat  to  make 
a  torn,  &  get  a  Chinaman  to  pack  it  down;  make  a 


DAY    BEFORE   YESTERDAY  111 

torn  &  go  to  work,  but  the  wages  are  light.  The 
fact  is,  dirt  is  scarce.  It  is  all  rocks.  If  we  could 
get  the  same  prospects  in  Garrote  we  get  here,  we 
could  make  $10  a  day. 

We  have  nothing  to  read,  &  spend  our  evenings 
at  the  grocery  store,  kept  by  George  Johnson.  The 
miners  gather  in  here  &  tell  what  they  have  made, 
which  ranges  from  75  cts.  to  a  dollar  a  day.  We 
don't  brag  about  our  wages. 

The  week  ending  Feb.  4. — We  have  worked  with 
a  torn  all  the  week  and  have  $23.  2  days  ago  we 
received  a  letter  from  Dr.  Crane.  He  says  times 
are  dull  in  San  Jose.  To-day,  I  received  a  big 
bundle  of  papers  from  father. 

The  week  ending  Feb.  25,  1855. — Great  excite 
ment  in  the  city  by  the  failure  of  Page,  Bacon,  & 
Co.,  &  of  Adams  &  Co.,  &  the  Bankers  generally 
closed  their  doors.  We  are  still  at  work,  making 
a  dollar  or  two  a  day. 

The  week  ending  March  18. — We  have  worked 
here  for  3  months  &  have  $134,  &  conclude  we  will 
go  back  to  our  old  stamping  ground,  2nd  Garrote. 

The  week  ending  Mar.  25. — Have  been  fixing  a 
place  to  try  making  a  start,  &c. 

The  week  ending  April  8.— For  the  past  2  weeks 


112  ADVENTURING    IN    CALIFORNIA 

we  have  made  $76.  From  April  24  to  August  26, 
4  months,  we  only  take  $275. 

We  have  received  several  letters  from  Dr.  Crane 
of  San  Jose  during  that  time.  He  says  times^  are 
very  dull,  &  many  failures  have  occurred.  The 
times  were  so  hard,  he  had  to  find  a  place  with 
cheaper  rent,  but  would  still  act  as  our  agent. 

Aug.  26,  1855. — Now  we  are  up  to  the  founda 
tion  of  Bret  Harte's  Story  of  Tennessee's  Partner, 
&  from  now  on,  our  mining  operations  take  a  dif 
ferent  color. 

On  the  other  side  of  the  Tuolumne  River,  quite 
an  excitement  has  existed  in  regard  to  an  ancient 
river  bed  that  has  been  found.  Is  called  the  gravel 
range;  &  evidently  the  same  range  exists  on  this 
side  of  the  river.  It  has  been  traced  some  5  miles 
from  Kanaka  to  above  Hamilton's.  A  company  is 
formed  here  of  17  men,  Chaffee  &  I  included. 
ChafTee  &  I  work  through  the  winter  of  '55  &  '56. 
We  have  faith  in  it  &  want  more  money,  &  we 
write  to  Dr.  Crane  to  sell  our  property  in  San  Jose 
for  what  he  can  get,  &,  March  5,  1856,  we  receive 
a  letter  from  the  Dr.  stating  he  had  sold  the  prop 
erty  for  $2100  to  J.  B.  Price;  &  we  go  to  San  Jose, 
make  out  the  papers,  receive  our  cash,  &  come 
back. 


DAY   BEFORE  YESTERDAY  113 

In  the  meantime,  we  find  the  gravel  range  a 
little  too  heavy  for  our  purse.  The  company  had 
divided  before  the  scarcity  of  cash.  The  new  Co. 
was  called  the  Pioneers,  with  9  men,  as  follows: 
Fred  &  Frank  Stocking,  R.  &  L.  Thomas,  J.  Cour- 
ly(?),  Ben  Dudley,  G.  R.  Pratt,  &  Chaffee  &  I. 
We  kept  together  2  months  &  found  we  had  bitten 
off  more  than  we  could  chew,  &  disbanded.  The 
claim  &  tools  were  put  up  at  a  rafBe,  the  winner  to 
furnish  an  oyster  supper,  &  April  13,  1856,  was 
the  time.  The  place  was  over  in  the  Slapjack  coun 
try,  near  Fred  Stocking's  house. 

Chaffee  &  Mrs.  Stocking  just  spread  themselves 
on  the  occasion.  Mrs.  Stocking  done  the  pastry 
part,  &  Chaffee  done  what  he  could  to  help  her  in 
other  ways. 

We  had  a  glorious  time,  under  a  spreading  oak 
tree  with  the  virgin  leaves  just  putting  out.  It 
was  a  time  never  to  be  forgotten.  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Stocking  are  now  in  the  City  &  have  raised  a  large 
family. 

The  week  ending  May  26,  1856.— The  past  has 
been  an  exciting  week  in  San  Francisco.  The  14, 
James  King  of  Wm.  was  shot  by  James  P.  Casey 
in  broad  daylight,  for  an  article  that  appeared  in 
the  Evening  Bulletin.  And  the  people,  not  having 


Il4  ADVENTURING    IN    CALIFORNIA 

much  confidence  in  the  civil  authorities,  formed 
themselves  into  a  Vigilante  committee,  &  Sunday 
took  Cory  &  Casey  from  the  jail  &  conveyed  them 
to  the  committee  rooms  on  Sacramento  St.,  &  they 
were  hung  in  front  of  the  committee  rooms. 

The  Vigilance  Committee  of  San  Francisco  are 
making  a  clean  sweep  of  shoulder  strikers,  ballot 
box  stuffers,  &  other  bad  characters  that  have  been 
gnawing  at  the  vitals  of  California  ever  since  she 
was  a  state. 

I  received  two  letters  from  home;  one  from  sis 
ter,  and  one  from  Brother  Edwin. 

We  have  commenced  a  house  for  Pratt,  12x24, 
with  wings  on  each  side  for  bedrooms. 

The  week  ending  June  29,  1856. — We  com 
menced  a  house  &  shop,  18x30,  \l/2  stories  high. 
We  intend  to  work  at  carpentering  (&)  wheel 
wright  work. 

The  week  ending  July  13. — We  have  made  up 
our  minds  to  try  another  speculation.  A  party  has 
applied  to  us  to  put  in  a  wheel  &  pump  for  them 
on  the  river,  &  take  an  interest  in  the  claim  for 
pay.  The  claim  has  never  been  tested.  The  claim 
adjoining  above  paid  well  last  year,  &  we  have 
every  reason  to  think  ours  will  pay  as  well. 


DAY   BEFORE  YESTERDAY  115 

Aug.  10. — I  went  down  the  river  to  put  in  a 
wheel  &  pump  for  Mc.Grath. 

Aug.  17. — I  worked  Sl/2  days  on  wheel,  then 
went  down  the  river  some  4  miles,  where  Chaffee 
was  at  work.  Wheels  &  pumps  are  being  put  in 
at  every  available  point  on  the  river. 

Aug.  23. — I  finished  my  job  for  Ned  McGrath. 
About  noon,  started  the  pump,  &  it  worked  fine, 
throwing  the  water  out  of  the  hole  in  about  an 
hour.  Another  party  has  applied  to  me  to  do  a 
similar  job  for  them  up  the  river  about  a  mile.  I 
worked  for  Stoltze(?)  9  days,  &  try  the  pump. 
It  don't  go  quick  enough  to  take  out  the  water,  & 
I  put  in  a  counter  shaft  to  gain  speed,  &  then  the 
pump  worked  fine.  I  worked  14  days  at  $6  a  day. 
They  gave  me  a  note  payable  in  60  days. 

The  week  ending  Sept.  21. — I  have  been  doing 
small  jobs  on  the  river  at  $6  per  day.  Yesterday 
I  came  to  Garrote. 

The  week  ending  Sept.  28,— I  went  to  Blythe's 
store,  on  the  river.  I  found  Chaffee  &  the  boys 
on  the  point  of  pulling  out,  for  the  season.  That 
was  unfortunate  as  a  speculation,  for  we  were  out 
$200,  besides  Chaffee's  labor. 

So  it  goes,  with  a  seesaw  motion,  up  &  down. 
Sometimes  we  think  we  have  a  fortune  within  our 


116  ADVENTURING    IN    CALIFORNIA 

grasp;  then  it  will  disappear  like  a  Jack  o'lantern 
in  a  meadow. 


HOW   BRET  HARTE  GOT  THE  FOUNDA 
TION  FOR  HIS  STORY 

This  is  the  substance  of  the  information  as  to 
the  story  in  which  the  partners  figured,  as  added 
by  Mr.  Chamberlain:  In  1868,  Bret  Harte,  whose 
unique  tales  of  the  mines  had  been  enthusiastically 
welcomed,  cast  about  for  material  for  a  new  story 
that  he  had  in  mind.  From  a  former  mining  part 
ner  of  theirs,  then  living  in  San  Francisco,  he 
learned  of  an  occurrence  of  the  year  1855 — a  fiend 
ish  crime  committed  by  a  man  who  was  pursued, 
arrested  in  Chinese  Camp,  brought  back  and  tried 
by  "Judge  Lynch."  He  admitted  his  guilt,  was 
taken  out  at  night  and  would  doubtless  have  been 
lynched  on  the  spot  by  the  crowd  of  angry  men, 
had  not  Mr.  Chaffee,  whose  regard  for  law  and 
order  was  well-known,  succeeded  in  persuading 
them  to  turn  the  wretched  fellow  over  to  the  civil 
authorities  for  trial. 

The  account  of  this  crime  and  trial,  and  the  de 
scription  of  the  place  and  of  the  beautiful  comrade 
ship  of  our  "David  and  Jonathan/'  served  Bret 


DAY    BEFORE   YESTERDAY  117 

Harte  (who  never  met  the  two  men  or  saw  their 
home)  as  the  foundation  for  his  pathetic  and  pic 
turesque  story  of  "Tennessee's  Partner." 

Several  years  after  its  publication,  Mr.  Chaffee 
visited  the  "City"  and  was  soon  located  and  inter 
viewed  by  an  enterprising  newspaper  woman.  A 
copy  of  the  interview  was  brought  to  Mr.  Cham 
berlain.  As  the  latter  tells  it,  "I  was  anxious  to 
see  who  Tennessee  was,  and  sent  to  the  City  for  a 
little  book  of  Bret  Harte's  novels,  and  was  not  at 
all  flattered  with  the  character  Bret  Harte  gave 


me." 


Into  the  sunset  of  the  earth-life  of  this  quaint 
old  couple  came  a  young  friend,  who  found  in 
their  chats  about  the  past  far  more  of  interest  than 
fiction  writers  had  gleaned. 

"Please,  please  try  to  write  what  you  have  told 
me  and  I  will  copy  it,  so  it  may  be  preserved,"  was 
the  urgent  request. 

The  one  addressed  modestly  demurred:  "They 
were  only  every-day  occurrences;"  and  he  could 
not  write  in  "literary  style,"  was  his  answer.  At 
last  the  "please,  please  try"  was  rewarded,  and  for 
friendship's  sake,  old  account  books  and  diaries,— 
aids  to  the  remarkable  memory  of  the  two  men, 
were  gathered  together,  and  in  the  long  winter 


118  ADVENTURING    IN    CALIFORNIA 

months  the  trembling  old  fingers  painstakingly  pen 
ciled  the  true  story  of  the  "Partners"  in  the  land 
of  "Once-upon-a-time." 

But  the  query,  "What  about  the  things  that  hap 
pened  after  1856?"  was  dismissed  with  a  final 
"That  is  really  all.  Since  then,  there  has  been 
nothing  of  consequence." 


"THE  SOUL  OF  JONATHAN  WAS  KNIT 
WITH  THE  SOUL  OF  DAVID" 

The  Partners  had  selected  for  their  final  resting 
place  a  peaceful  little  spot  on  the  beautiful  hill- 
side  overlooking  their  home;  but  once  more  their 
plans  were  over-ruled.  At  the  age  of  eighty,  Jason 
A.  Chaffee  gave  a  last  earthly  hand-clasp  to  his 
lifelong  comrade,  and,  following  a  surgical  opera 
tion  in  a  distant  hospital,  "crossed  the  Great  Di 
vide." 

James  P.  Chamberlain,  eighty-three  years  old, 
also  failing  in  health  and  bereft  of  his  companion, 
would  accept  but  little  of  the  kindly  ministrations 
of  his  neighbors.  "I  had  one  Partner,"  was  his 
answer  to  their  offers  of  "someone  to  stay  with" 


DAY    BEFORE   YESTERDAY  119 

and  help  him;  "I  will  never  have  another." 

Alone,  practically  helpless  and  penniless  and  in 
intense  physical  pain  he  mourned  for  his  friend. 
One  morning  he  brought  out  his  one  weapon,  an 
old  army  musket,  and  seating  himself  outside  the 
door  of  his  lonely  house,  "Tennessee"  went  to  find 
his  "Partner." 

The  kind  neighbors  buried  his  body  in  the  little 
cemetery  near  the  town.  A  friend,  Mr.  Charles 
H.  Burden,  the  undertaker  of  Sonora,  read  the 
burial  service, — and  the  only  music  was  the  gentle, 
pitying  voice  of  the  soft  breeze  sighing  through 
the  tops  of  the  tall  pines. 

POSTLUDE 

And  time  speeds  on,  and  others  will  travel  in 
the  paths  of  the  Pioneers  and  tell  their  stories  in 
simple,  homely  chat  or  in  language  of  eloquent 
beauty;  and  they,  in  turn,  may  become  new  pio 
neers. 

I  have  seen  a  small  cedar  growing  from  the 
crumbling  trunk  of  the  long-since  fallen  Father 
of  the  Forest  in  the  Calaveras  Grove,  a  different 
tree,  yet  none  the  less  wonderful.  And  we  know 
that  in  both  these,  as  in  the  tiny  for-get-me-not 
down  in  the  foothills,  is  a  seed-thought  of  the 


120 


ADVENTURING    IN    CALIFORNIA 


Creator,  visibly  expressed  for  us  to  read.  In  the 
soul  of  mankind  and  in  the  tree  and  the  flower  we 
can  find  it. 

With  questioning  eyes  we  look  up  to  the  Sequoia, 
the  pine  and  the  cedar,  and,  like  little  children, 
kneel  close  to  the  earth  to  gather  the  for-get- 
me-not. 

For  "The  Greatest  of  These"  is  in  and  about 
them  all. 

Sequoia  Gigantea 
Cone 


"The  Greatest  of  These  Is  Love" 


ADVENTURING  IN  CALIFORNIA 
Notes 


ADVENTURING  IN  CALIFORNIA 
Notes 


ADVENTURING  IN  CALIFORNIA 
Notes 


ADVENTURING  IN  CALIFORNIA 
Notes 


14  DAY  USE 

RETURN  TO  DESK  FROM  WHICH  BORROWED 

LOAN  DEPT. 

This  book  is  due  on  the  last  date  stamped  below, 
or  on  the  date  to  which  renewed.  Renewals  only: 

Tel.  No.  642-3405 

Renewals  may  be  made  4  days  prior  to  date  due. 
books  are  subject  to  immediate  recall. 


DECl     1975     MAY  2  2 '97 


MAR  2  3  1977   '  1 


JUNO  9  1998 


m 


MOV  1  4 1984 


LD21A-20m-3,'73 
(Q8677slO)476-A-31 


General  Library 

University  of  California 

Berkeley 


THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 


